. >> reporter: leading the second unit to arrive, captain davis listened to almost on the radio. >> charlie was on the radio saying a whole row of houses were gone. >> reporter: both firefighters knew this fire was deadly and on the move. there was not time to help burn victims running for their lives. they had to get close to the fire and evacuate survivors. then it was time to stop the gas fuel inferno from advancing. the explosion ruptured a water line. when engine 52 ran out of water, things got dangerously hot. >> instantaneously at that point it got really, really hot. so my driver quoted by saying, i went, charlie, you told me to back the engine up. he said i got in the engine and the steering wheel was so hot i couldn't touch it. >> reporter: davis was on the other side of the fire on the 900 block of glen view. he drew this map of the home he planned to save. holding his crew in place, believe the fire stormed overhead. >> that roof collapsed. that was when i got in the three houses on the right that we had put out initially. they were starting to get a lot of the embers from the c