Thursday, October 1, 2026
On July 25, the night before their lives changed dramatically, Long Beach resident Glenna King, 42, put her 6-year-old son Maxwell to bed in their upstairs apartment in a two-family home at 322 E. Olive St. At around midnight, she, too, turned in.
The next thing King remembers is being awakened by an orange glow and finding her apartment teeming with thick, acrid smoke. She tried to make her way to her son’s room but could not, at which point she dialed 911, spoke with an operator and then lost consciousness.
The fire, which officials said was caused by a faulty power strip, could have quickly turned tragic for King and her son — who is autistic and doesn’t speak — had it not been for the quick thinking and teamwork of Long Beach firefighters Anthony Fallon, Asst. Chief Antonio Cuevas and Capt. Hadrick Ray, the Herald’s 2010 People of the Year, who carried mother and son to safety.
According to many of their colleagues, the actions of these three men are a fitting testimonial to the training and preparedness of the Long Beach Fire Department, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.
“It was probably one of the biggest rescues in recent memory,” said Fire Chief Scott Kemins. “ … If they didn’t find [King] in time, the EMS guys wouldn’t have been able to do what they did.”
Fallon, a professional firefighter who has been with the department for 19 years, was first inside the home and searched the upstairs apartment on his hands and knees. He found his way to Maxwell King’s bedroom, carried the boy outside and, assuming that a parent wouldn’t leave a child, re-entered the home and continued the search with Cuevas. They discovered Glenna King unconscious in her bedroom. Fallon got snagged in a fire hose during the rescue, but Ray emerged from the darkness to help in the effort, and the three men carried King out of the house.
While Maxwell was unharmed, his mother had suffered severe inhalation burns, and would eventually spend 11 days in the hospital.
