Deputies save child from burning home
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SANTA FE COUNTY, New Mexico (KOAT) — Around 6 a.m. on Jan. 27, Santa Fe County first responders were called to a house fire near Veterans Memorial Highway and South Meadows Road.
Deputies Rudy Vallejo and Levi Abeyta were the first two to arrive at the scene and found a mobile home engulfed in flames.
According to a police report, a 15-year-old boy called for help after discovering his home was on fire. The teen was able to escape after breaking a window on a door before deputies arrived.
But the teen told first responders, his father and 12-year-old brother were still inside.
Body camera video shared with KOAT by the sheriff’s office shows the moments Vallejo and Abeyta search the home, hoping to find the boy and his dad.
Deputies discovered the front door of the home was locked, but were able to make entry after kicking it open. They were met with thick smoke and realized the roof was starting to collapse.
With heavy smoke, both deputies began breaking open windows, trying to find anyone inside.
Deputy Abeyta runs to turn off the propane tank to the home and runs to fire crews, letting them know the gas is off and that a 15-year-old is in his police car with lacerations to his arm and face.
Body camera video showed fire crews stuck behind a fence and cutting it, in order to get closer to the burning home.
As Deputy Abeyta ran back to the home, Deputy Vallejo spots a child’s foot through a living room window he shattered. Video captured him pulling the boy out of the window, throwing him over his shoulder and running to paramedics.
Eventually, Deputy Abeyta takes the boy and sprinted the rest of the way to an ambulance.
A neighbor then informed deputies, he has the children’s father on the phone and that he is not inside the house.
The sheriff’s department says both children are receiving medical care. According to a police report, the 12-year-old was flown to UNM Hospital for his injuries.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family. In a post from the organizer, the family lost everything.
Deputy Abeyta has been with SFSO for more than two years and served in the Navy.
Deputy Vallejo has more than eight years of law enforcement experience and is a father of three.
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