there were just people, cameras. i remember people taking pictures, people yelling. not long after steve s rescue, there s another reason to celebrate. this time, at the mall. this is rescue 104. we need transport to trauma center. after eight grueling hours of breaking up and removing debris from around the trapped man, they are able to lift salvador pena out of the hole in the ground. i m pretty ecstatic. i mean, considering. look at this place and you just know that it s a miracle, actually. it s a miracle. but there is some grim news. 57 people died from the northridge earthquake, 16 of them at the meadows apartment complex. it caused more than $20 billion in damage, making it the costliest earthquake in u.s. history. steve langdon says those hours of being trapped alone, not knowing if he d make it out alive, changed him forever.
firefighter henry grabs his gear, and along with his crew, starts tearing away at the building. get back! they reach steve s roommate first. oh, the sky looks beautiful. steve is now counting the long minutes until they come back for him. he s right by that window. i think there was more aftershocks, and i could still hear the building settling. now the rescuers slice deeper into the building, trying to free steve. and not a moment too soon. i had five fractured ribs and i had a collapsed lung and i had almost a quart of blood in my lungs. later, they told me i was probably within 20 to 30 minutes of drowning in my own blood. almost six hours after he was trapped under the rubble, steve is carried out of the building. i just remember seeing all these people. i mean, not anybody i knew.
muffled. jerry had a hard time hearing me because he didn t have his hearing aid on, so i became jerry s ears and he became my voice. firefighter henry grabs his gear and, along with his crew, begins tearing away at the building. get back! they reach steve s roommate first. oh, the sky looks beautiful. steve is now counting the long minutes until they come back for him. he s right by that window. i think there was more aftershocks, and i could still hear the building settling. now the rescuers slice deeper into the building trying to free steve. and not the moment too soon. i had five fractured ribs and i had a collapsed lung and i had almost a quart of blood in my lungs. later they told me i was probably within 20 to 30 minutes
57 people died from the northridge earthquake. 16 of them at the meadows apartment complex. it caused more than $20 billion in damage, making it the costliest earthquake in u.s. history. steve langdon says those hours of being trapped alone, not knowing if he d make it out alive, changed him forever. this kind of event made me realize that today is the only day i have. i don t know what s going to happen tomorrow. i don t know what s going to happen next week. i just think it s important for people to realize how precious their time here is. coming up a devastating car accident, but the victim is nowhere in sight. do you think they may be trapped? yes, sir. and where she s trapped will leave rescuers scratching their heads. i was like, how in the world did this person get in here? a massive effort to keep her alive.
northridge meadows apartments, including steve langdon are at home when the quake rattles them out of their beds. the only thing i could think about is getting under something or getting to the doorway. i took a couple steps and there was a dresser that was against the wall that hit me in the chest and knocked me back down. firefighter mike henry on the overnight at the firehouse is jolted out of his sleep. it was such a ferocious sound. my initial thought was we had a bomb that hit the fire station. he and his crew head out immediately to assess the damage. and when they get to the northridge meadows apartments, everything looks fine to him. the people that were out in the street said the building had collapsed. and we shined a light on the building, and it looked like it was fine. henry doesn t know it yet, but the building is anything but fine. steve langdon whose apartment is on the first floor is laying face down on his mattress still struggling to get to his feet. i