A South Los Angeles family was left heartbroken after a fire that began with a pursuit crash quickly spread to their apartment and destroyed everything inside.
The pursuit driver crashed into the apartment early Saturday. Kevin Tinoco, his father, two sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephew were inside the home when they heard the jarring sound of a car colliding with the building.
"All of a sudden, you hear a big thud, kind of like a missile just hit something, like 'boom,'" Tinoco said.
Security camera video from a nearby business captured the car crashing into the living room of the first-floor apartment. People inside the home ran outside and saw the driver and passengers still in the car.
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They sensed a bad situation was about to get worse.
"We run downstairs, and we just see them struggling to get out of the vehicle like the doors were jammed," said resident Rose Ordunez. "I started hearing like a noise, like a liquid coming out of the car and a lot of extra smoke. I was like, 'You know what? This car is going to blow up.'"
The occupants eventually emerged from the burning car and left the scene.
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Ordunez yelled for her child's father to get their 1-year-old, who was sleeping upstairs. Everyone inside the home escaped, but flames quickly spread throughout the residence, leaving Ordunez and her family with questions about what's next.
The family's landlord put them up in a hotel for the week.
"We don't have a home, thanks to them," she said. "We don't know what's going to happen from here, but the most important part is that we’re alive."
Ordunez said there was a bright spot. Firefighters told the family there was no sign of their cat after the fire was knocked down Saturday morning. When the family later returned to the burned out home they discovered the cat had come back after running away during the chaos.
"Gratefully, we’re all alive," Ordunez said. "It’s just our home."
One of four people who ran from the burning car was arrested, police said. Details about what led to the chase were not immediately available.
