‘We are Stuck, We Can't Get Out’: Harrowing Moment Four Cops Break Free After Being TRAPPED in Raging Bakersfield, Calif. Inferno

Footage released by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office in California depicts local cops struggling to break through an inferno closing in around them.

Knewz.com has learned that bodycam footage of the incident captured the growing desperation of deputies and a United States Forest Service officer as they tried to navigate smoke and flames in search of a way out.

The deputies were deployed to the historic mining town of Havilah to evacuate the area around the Kern River Valley Substation.

In the process, they found themselves faced with the potentially life-threatening situation of fire approaching from every angle, barring their escape from the area.

The video captures scenes through the windshield and windows of a police cruiser, depicting thick orange-tinted smoke blotting out the sunlight.

During the drive, said to be along Shool House Street, the officers realized that their thoroughfare had become impeded by the blaze.

One of the deputies can be heard saying “It’s on our side of the roadway.”

“Is it really?” another can asks, to which the first answers: “Yeah!”

“You can see through my window,” the law enforcement officer says and his colleague responds saying: “Then we need to […] figure something out.”

Their vehicle draws to a stop as the roads available to it are blocked off by two units due to the raging blaze beyond them, the officers make a U-turn in pursuit of another escape route only to find yet another set of flashing lights blocking their way.

This exit was their last option.

They checked in with their controller over the radio and explained that the fire had spread across the road. As a testimony to their report, the smoke ahead of the vehicle appears thick and impenetrable.

“We are stuck. We can’t get out,” the policeman says into his radio. At this point, they have no other option but to turn around and head back in the direction they came.

These two officers, along with the four other units trapped by the fire, drive to a clearing on high ground.

Having already raised the alarm with their control center, the message was passed along to an air rescue team and the fire department. Later, it became apparent that a fire team was en route but had become blocked a quarter mile away—also due to the fire.

With the latter being the case all options were considered.

The forestry officer handed two deputies fire-resistant jackets and a voice crackled on the radio telling them to make a “backfire” so that when the forest blaze reached them, there would be no fuel left to burn.

Shortly after, a deputy spotted a fire department vehicle and all four Sheriff’s Department units moved down to meet it.

The camera shows one of the policemen, obviously relieved, exiting his vehicle and pumping one of the fire team’s hands enthusiastically before hugging him.

The safety of the two deputies, the forestry officer, and the other three units in the video was confirmed when the fire officer spoke into his radio saying:  “All units were together at this time.”