Northridge honors man who risked his life to save 2 people in fiery crash

NBC Los Angeles reports on Fermin Hernandez, a Northridge resident who rescued two people from a locked Tesla that caught fire on Nordhoff Street on February 9, 2026. Hernandez spotted the crash, broke into the vehicle despite locked doors and his own injury, and pulled both occupants to safety across three attempts before the car became fully engulfed in flames—an act recognized Saturday by Councilmember John Lee and the LAPD Devonshire Division. The article is reported by named journalist Annette Arreola with direct quotes from Hernandez and the city official, specifics about the rescue sequence (locked doors, hand injury, fire reaching the victim's legs, multiple extraction attempts), and a named video report date (April 18, 2026), meeting standard local news sourcing practices. Independent search results did not return corroborating coverage of this specific Northridge rescue; the search returned unrelated fatal crashes in other jurisdictions, so independent verification of this incident's details is not available in the provided data. Critical readers should note that the article lacks detail on the condition of the two rescued individuals, whether they received medical treatment, or follow-up on the cause of the crash.