RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.—A veteran Los Angeles County firefighter was overcome by smoke and flames Jan. 6 while battling a Rancho Palos Verdes house fire and had to be pulled from the inferno by fellow firefighters and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The crew from Fire Station 83 responded to the blaze around 2 a.m. in the 30700 block of Tarapaca Road. “They were engaged in a firefight at a one-story single-family dwelling,” interim county Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters. “… We believe that the fire was in the attic. The smoke and the fire overcame [the firefighter]. He put out a ‘mayday’ for assistance from the other firefighters that were at the scene, and they were able to quickly locate him, rescue him and start the life-saving procedures as necessary.” The firefighter was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, where he died. He …