(Brooklyn-WABC, October 10, 2004) -- A fiery car crash, a desperate rescue, and three heroes. It happened a few hundred yards away from the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in Brooklyn.
Eyewitness News reporter Ken Rosato is at Kings County Hospital in Flatbush with the story.
A retired firefighter, a deputy inspector with the NYPD, and a good Samaritan all teamed up to try to save lives.
At about 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, a pickup truck from out of state lost control on Flatbush Avenue, near the Belt Parkway. The passenger was almost thrown from the wreck.
Moments later, that NYPD deputy inspector stopped to help. The passenger was trying to get out of the now burning truck, but his seatbelt was jammed.
A good Samaritan in his 50s happened to be driving by, he pulled over, and used a knife to cut the seatbelt, and helped drag the passenger to safety -- just as witnesses say the truck exploded.
Just then, the retired firefighter also stopped, and grabbed a tree limb to break the truck's back window to vent the flames, because he realized the driver was still in the truck. But the driver was not able to make it out. The former firefighter burned his hands as he tried to save the driver, but it was to no avail.
The retired firefighter was so distraught that he said that during all his years as a firefighter he spent his time saving lives, and he felt horrified he couldn't save this one.
The good news though is that the passenger was taken to Kings County Hospital. His condition was not known, but the retired firefighter says he's expected to make it.
