Laura Davis / Roundup
The horrifying Metrolink collision last month in Chatsworth is still a vivid image in the minds of those helping victims at the scene of the crash.
Three sheriffs from the Pierce College Los Angeles County substation were some of the first rescuers to arrive on spot.
Deputy Alfred Guerrero was informed about the crash by radio and arrived at the scene five minutes later to offer a helping hand.
“I was driving down the heel of Topanga Canyon with another sheriff and the scene was beautiful with blue skies, great trees, tan and brown beautiful colors of earth on the Santa Susana Mountains, and a black cloud started to rise from the trees,” Guerrero recounted.
An hour after Guerrero’s arrival, he was met by Pierce sheriffs Justin Ramos and Eduardo Chavez.
“The teamwork that was displayed by the rescuers and responders from college bureau was amazing,” Guerrero said. “We all arrived at different times and from different places but somehow we all found each other and we helped take the bodies out of the train.”
Ramos was relieved to meet up at the tracks with Guerrero, a familiar face in a place of chaos and destruction.
“Once I spotted him, I had that feeling of being safer and a little more secure because our partners are like family,” Ramos said. “I saw him being my supervisor and it cleared my head.”
In his 16 years of experience working for the L.A. Police Department, Guerrero had never witnessed such a catastrophic event.
“It was a shock to the mind and a shock to the senses. Once you get over the initial shock, which lasts about a second or two, you go into responding mode and use your training and experience to help where you can,” Guerrero said.
Hundreds of rescuers arrived to assist, many staying longer than they were assigned because of their desire to help those injured.
“I couldn’t answer my phone because it wasn’t my priority at the time,” Chavez said. “My priority is to help my partners. You can’t answer the phone because you focus on what you’re doing and that’s when the emotions set in.”
The commitment displayed by the sheriffs at the accident is a sign of their dedication to the community and to the students they serve on a daily basis.
“I know sometimes we come across as stern, as insensitive, a little bit too much authority for an average student to follow,” Guerrero said, “but they’re all good guys and they will sacrifice themselves for the student body. I don’t think the students know that.”
Guerrero said the crash seems as if it were yesterday, as his mind still reflects on the largest Metrolink collision in history.
“Afterwards, you can’t help but think of the families,” he said. “When you pick up the dead, you treat them with dignity and care, say a little prayer and pick up the next one. That’s about all you can do.”
Rescue workers work to remove victims who were trapped inside the wreckage of a Metrolink commuter train that collided with a freight train in Chatsworth Sept. 12. (John McCoy / Daily News)
