Deputies save the life of Newbury Park woman
By Nancy Needham  nancy@theacorn.com

CLETE BOHLKE/Special to the Acorn THREE TREATED AND RELEASED--A house fire sends up clouds of smoke in the vicinity of 1100 Golden Crest Avenue in Newbury Park. A resident and two police officers were treated on Monday for smoke inhalation. Damage to the house appears to be extensive.

As her home filled with black smoke and the heat around her intensified, a 51-year-old Newbury Park resident became disoriented and stood helplessly inside her burning house.

That's when two Ventura County deputies arrived in response to a 911 hang-up call.

"A 911 hang-up call could be a kid playing with the phone or your worst nightmare," Detective Eric Buschow said.

Senior Dep. Guy Peach and Dep. Anthony Nagy immediately called for assistance from the fire department when they saw black smoke billowing out of the residence on the 1100 block of Golden Crest Avenue. Then they looked inside and saw a woman at the back of the house shrouded by thick smoke, Buschow said.

"Without hesitation, both men entered the house and brought the woman outside to safety," Buschow said.

"She was coughing so badly, she couldn't answer any questions, so we didn't know if there were more victims inside the house," Peach said.

So both deputies went back inside the burning house to make sure no one else was inside. It turned out she was home alone.

"I don't think any deputy would've done any different," Peach said.

Peach, Nagy and the woman all ended up at Los Robles Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, Buschow said.

The woman had been safely outside her home before returning to rescue pets.

"Before the deputies got there, the woman had gone back inside her house and rescued her dog. Then she went inside and rescued her cat. It was when she went inside again to rescue her goldfish that she became in need of rescue," Buschow said. "The smoke affected her. People can underestimate the force of nature."

"When we went up to the house we saw a woman about six feet inside walking away from us to the back of the house. We called to her, but she did not respond," Peach recalled.

When the deputies went inside she was in the kitchen and had a goldfish aquarium in her hands.

"She was incoherent and disoriented," Peach said.

The deputies had no protective fire gear when they went inside the burning home, but they didn't hesitate because a life needed saving, Buschow said.

"They could potentially be nominated for medals of valor. It's heroic. They saved a life," Buschow said.

"The house looked almost like there was an explosion- the windows were blown out," said Clete Bohlke, 48, a nearby resident.

"Extreme heat can do that to windows," said Capt. Barry Parker, Ventura County Fire Department.

Bohlke became aware of the fire when he saw smoke while working in his backyard, he said. He thought it was a brush fire, but learned it was a structure by listening to his emergency scanner, he said. He grabbed his camera and went to the house.

The deputies arrived at around 11 a.m., and by 11:30 a.m. the fire department had the two-alarm fire out.