Transcript for Pilots reflect on rescuing people and dogs during California wildfires
Finally tonight, America strong. The firefighters flying head-on into the smoke and flames in California. Here’s ABC’s Matt Gutman. Reporter: The pair of pilots flying right into that thunderhead of smoke. L.A. Fire department pilots Dave Nordquist and Joel Smith had been battling the woolsey fire near Los Angeles earlier this month, part of a swarm of pilots fighting fires from the air. Those guys are in a bad area, they need to get out quick. Yeah. Reporter: When they got the call — All right, this is rapidly becoming very ugly. Yeah, it is. Reporter: The risk was huge. But the alternative? There was really nowhere to run, nowhere to go for these people. Reporter: They started running low on fuel when Joel Smith finally jogs back with three survivors and two dogs. We probably had another five minutes to get the people out before it burned over the top. There’s one dog here. English mastiff. Little apprehensive, but we’re getting him onboard. Reporter: With the pooch finally pushed onboard, Joel jumps back in, they lift off. The fire rearing up. We okay now? You’re clear now. Reporter: The hero pilots never even got the names of their passengers. There was no time. That’s enough excitement for me today. Hey, you and me both, brother. Reporter: They drop them off and flew right back into that fire. Matt Gutman, ABC news, los Angeles. So, tonight we salute those pilots for being America strong. And we thank Matt for that report. We thank you for watching. I’m Tom llamas. We hope to see you right back here tomorrow. For David and all of us here, have a great Thanksgiving.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
