Dog alerts family as fire damages century-old South LA church – NBC Los Angeles

As flames raged through the historic Crouch Memorial Church in South Central, a small dog called out to her family.

“Luckily, we got a signal from our dog. She barked loudly and gave everyone the signal. Like, ‘Hey, wake up,'” said Richard Vaquero.

Vaquero said he rushed outside around 2:30 a.m. Friday and saw a fire just feet from his South LA home on East 27th Street.

“I just started going out with my kids, pushing them out, getting them to a safe zone,” Vaquero said.

After the family was safe, he walked to the back of the house, whose wooden fence lay in ashes, and quickly grabbed a water hose in hopes of saving the family’s two cars.

He suffered burns to his face and arms, but in the end both cars were destroyed.

“I mean, as you saw, it’s the hole that my kids usually have here. I mean, I’m really at a loss for words. I mean, I’m speechless right now,” Vaquero said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said the church was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. It took 66 firefighters 38 minutes to extinguish the flames.

This fire occurred 11 years after a fire caused by a wall heater in the prayer room in 2013 damaged the attic and roof.

The owners have been determined to restore the building ever since, and although it was supposed to be vacant, Vaquero said that’s not quite the case.

Vaquero said he saw homeless people in the area. “I saw them jumping, from my side to the church,” he said.

The church was built over a century ago in 1896, the same year the first modern Summer Olympics were held.

It was the center of the Prohibition movement in Los Angeles in the early 20th century.

Vaquero now hopes that both the city and the church owner will find a solution to preserve the property and protect the community.

All in all, he keeps his head up and is grateful for the courage of the smallest member of the family.

“Lola saved us. If she hadn’t been here, it probably would have been worse,” Vaquero said.

By the grace of God, he said, he may have been burned, but he was certainly not broken.

“Good thing I’m alive. Burned, yes. But my wife says, ‘Oh, we worked hard to get the car.’ She says, ‘No, don’t worry, it’s just the material,'” Vaquero said.