Butte County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Parmley was on Pentz Road attempting to rescue four nurses when his patrol car broke down.
With embers swirling around him, he set out on foot surrounded by flames. Parmley switched on his body camera “in hopes of capturing what he thought were going to be the last moments of his life,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea released the dramatic three-minute video on Thursday in response to a public records request. Most deputies did not turn on their cameras, the sheriff said, and Parmley’s footage might be the only of its kind from the sheriff’s office.
It begins as Parmley was on Pentz Road near Feather River Hospital to rescue nurses. He soon encountered neighbors walking in a daze. It was morning but the sky was as dark as night.