Edition:
January 15, 2010
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The Friday Flyer Editor
Jeff Baygents, a five-year resident of Canyon Lake, doesn't think of himself as a hero. In fact, he admits to being pretty selfish most of the time and not necessarily the type of person to get involved. So the act of courage that resulted in his being recognized at the January 6 City Council meeting for saving the life of a mother and three young children from a burning home was a surprise even to him. He says. "I got to see another side of me I didn't know."
As Jeff tells the story, he and his wife Janine and their children were on their way to Snow Day at Holiday Harbor on December 5. The snow wasn't quite ready, so they decided to check out a real estate sign up the street. As they were talking to someone in the neighborhood, they noticed smoke billowing out of a two-story home at the corner of Village Way and Loch Lomond Drives.
As Jeff raced across the street, he heard a woman's scream but didn't know where it was coming from. Finally, he spotted her face in the smoke on the second floor balcony and somehow scaled the wall to reach the place she was standing with two toddlers and an infant. He said the heat coming from the house felt like hairdryer and he could tell the mother was terrified.
Dangling from the railing, he first handed down the infant to his wife; then handed the 1-year-old girl to neighbor Joe Arrana. Then, looking for someone to take the heavier 2-year-old boy, he saw a man standing nearby. "I remember him wearing his sunglasses and standing there, watching, but he didn't budge to help me, even though I asked him," says Jim. Finally, a taller gentleman named Matt came to get the 2-year-old.
In the meantime, the mother looked like she was about to jump and Jeff and Jim had to persuade her to wait until a ladder arrived - which it did, thanks to another neighbor. Other than the man in the sunglasses, neighbors started coming out to help, says Jeff.
In the meantime, he heard from the woman there were dogs in the house so he raced around to what he thought was the garage door. Because it was so hot, he kicked it in. As he crouched down to whistle for the dogs, the wall of smoke briefly withdrew enough for him to see a cage next to the door of what later turned out to be the kitchen. One loose dog raced past him as he struggled to grasp the cage, and flames shot over his head. The cage was so hot it burned his hands.
As he got the dog out of the cage and carried it in his arms, he said it was so overheated he felt like he was carrying a roast right out of the oven. He knew then there was no hope of rescuing the other dog, so he ran away from the house. Glass was exploding from the heat, but he also heard at least six other explosions inside the house in quick succession. He says it seems like the house was engulfed in flames within 90 seconds. Jeff’s wife tried to resuscitate the dog to no avail.
Later, while being treated for his burns by paramedics on the scene, Jeff says one of the firefighters asked him about his decision to go through the kitchen door. “Have you ever seen the movie, “Backdraft?” he asked. “It’s a lucky thing you were down low.” Jeff also was told the heat inside the house reached a temperature of 1,550º.
Jeff says, as he watched the firefighters open the garage door he was surprised by the number of vehicles inside. In addition to two cars in the driveway and one across the street, he thought he counted a truck and four more cars inside the garage, along with seven motorcycles – street bikes, not off-road bikes.
Jeff and his family eventually proceeded to their original destination – Snow Day. The next day, they went back to look at the burned house. Jeff asked his kids how he had managed to reach the second floor balcony without a ladder. “You were like Spiderman, Dad – it was awesome,” his son raved. Jeff still isn’t sure how he did it.
In addition to finding out he was capable of doing more than he expected under such circumstances, Jeff says he was very impressed by the response of so many neighbors. He knows people were trying to help the dogs survive and the mother and her children with clothes, since she was wearing a negligee and the toddlers seemed to be in diapers and T-shirts that wintry morning. Adding to the neighbor’s efforts, Janine Baygent raced home to get some water and some of her own kids’ clothes, jackets and shoes.
Dictionary.com defines a “hero” as “a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal – a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.”
Jeff may not think of himself in those terms, but the City of Canyon Lake does. At the December 6 meeting, officials established a perpetual plaque to be hung at City Hall honoring local heroes. Jeff’s will be the first name listed. In addition, Mayor Nancy Horton issued the following proclamation:
“Whereas, on Saturday, December 5, 2009, Jeff Baygents arrived early with his family to Snow Day at Holiday Harbor when he noticed smoke and flames coming from a home on Loch Lomond Drive; and
“Whereas, Jeff Baygents ran to the aid of a frightened mother and her two children on the balcony who were getting ready to jump; and
“Whereas, without thinking, Jeff Baygents climbed up the balcony without a ladder, held on to the rail of the balcony and lowered the family to neighbors Joe and Joey Arana; and
“Whereas, Jeff Baygents sustained burns on his hands when he kicked open the kitchen door to rescue the family pets; and
“Whereas, by following his instincts and taking action, Jeff Baygents was instrumental in saving the lives of three people and was able to avert what could have been a certain tragedy; and
“Whereas, Canyon Lake would like to recognize this selfless and heroic act;
Now, therefore, I, Nancy Horton, Mayor of the City of Canyon Lake, do hereby proclaim thanks and gratitude to Jeff Baygents for his service to our community.”
According to Cal Fire Captain Matthew Gilbert, the fire originated in the living room of the house but the cause is still undetermined. Records provided by Cal Fire list the owner of the home as Michael Samarin, with another “involved person” listed as Nichole Horseman. It is not known whether either of these individuals was living in the home at the time of the fire. Further information about the rescued woman and her children was unavailable at the time of publication.
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