Firefighters rescued a small boy and his mother from a third story unit during an apartment fire in Panorama City early Friday morning.

LAFD was summoned to 8834 Willis Avenue at 2:34 A.M. for a structure fire in a three-story apartment building, with reports of people trapped. Firefighters hopped off the apparatus and sprinted toward the apartment building, where a mother could be seen holding her three-year-old son out of a third floor bathroom window. Firefighters erected a 35-foot extension ladder to the window of the fire unit and took the boy from the mother's arms, removing him from the burning building and bringing him down to safety. As they ascended the ladder a second time to help the mother down, she was nowhere to be found, having disappeared back into the smoke. Firefighters battling the flames inside located the mother and assisted her down an interior staircase. The two family members were reunited outside, where firefighter-paramedics transported them to a local hospital in fair condition.

Ultimately, the fire was extinguished in 22 minutes from the time of the original 9-1-1 call, by 28 firefighters. No one else was injured during the incident.

A careless and needless candle started the fire, said to have been used for light inside the unit. LAFD urges residents to use other means to light their homes and avoid the unnecessary risk of an open flame. Only one smoke alarm was found inside, but was not functional. The Red Cross was notified to assist the mother and child in finding accomodations during this time of recovery after sustaining damage to their residence.