. >> reporr: in a diffent part of town officer david petersn is on a lone mission to clear every housee can. >> before i could get to the end of the house, those houses would flames 40 feet in the air. >> santa rosa, i can't go any further, smoke's too thick. >> reporter: multie times he fis himself face-to-face with the devil, tempting fate at the gates of hell. >> there's at least four distinct times i felt, i've done too much, i've gone too far. god help me. >> reporter: knowing lives are on the line, he keeps going. >> come on. get in my car, ma'am. get in my car. >> my house is surrounded!ohrri! eporn m t theom saf to a sheriff's station. >> can i put four evacuees in your lobby till their rides get ere? all right, folks. all right, good night. >> reporter: not a momt to spare, he's back at it. >> so as the night went on you had -- i had that heavy feeling that nature had beat us handily. ere was no way that we could beat the speed of t fire. >> reporter: compounding the chaos, most forms of communication are down. the one unlikely beacon of hope? radio. >> we realized fairly quic