A California fire chief proved that ingenuity—and a little fridge-raiding—can go a long way in a crisis. Brian Fennessy, head of the Orange County Fire Authority, sprang into action with an arsenal of milk and beer to save two homes, including his brother’s, as wildfires turned his childhood neighborhood into what he described as “a total nightmare.”
When the Eaton fire broke out near Altadena, Fennessy initially assured his brother and friends they’d be fine. But hours later, with the inferno closing in and his brother’s phone suspiciously silent, the seasoned firefighter of nearly 50 years knew it was time to step in.
“I thought, I need to get up there,” Fennessy told ABC7, undoubtedly channeling every action hero ever.
Upon arriving, he found his old neighborhood engulfed in flames, but miraculously, his brother’s house and the one next door were still standing. Determined to keep it that way, Fennessy got to work cooling down the neighbor’s melting gas meter—except there was one small problem. No water.
Enter: the fridge.
Fennessy forced his way into the house and discovered a treasure trove of firefighting supplies: milk and a couple of beers. Armed with his dairy-and-lager arsenal, he dashed back outside to douse the gas meter.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to rekindle,” he admitted, “but it was all I could do in the moment.”
Spoiler alert: it worked. Fennessy’s quick thinking saved both homes, making them the only structures left standing on the block. Not bad for a man whose fire hose that day came in glass bottles and cartons.
Reflecting on the chaos, Fennessy noted the grim reality of modern wildfires. “We tell everybody, ‘Call 911 and we’ll be there,’” he said. “This was a situation where you call 911, and it’s unlikely we were gonna be there.”
While Southern California’s wildfires may be the new normal, Fennessy’s beer-and-milk heroics prove that sometimes, a little creativity (and a well-stocked fridge) can make all the difference.
