A group of Prince George’s County police officers and firefighters acted quickly Friday morning to save a man from a burning car in a dramatic rescue caught on video.
According to county police, a person called in a report of a burning car at around 12:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Lakewood Street in Suitland. When police officers arrived at the scene, they found the car fully engulfed in flames and the driver still inside.
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Two officers tried to pull the man out of the car, but the flames were too intense to do so. Police say two more officers arrived on scene to help, armed with fire extinguishers.
“I jumped out, grabbed my fire extinguisher, ran to the burning car,” Officer Nicholas Clayton with Prince George’s County police said.
To rescue the man, one of the officers used his baton to lift up the hot door handle. Then the officers grabbed the man and began pulling him out, but lost their grip when a tire exploded because of the heat.
The officers then regrouped and pulled the man out of the car with the help of volunteer firefighter Daniel Collins. The man is in critical condition with severe burns and internal injuries but is expected to survive.
Other firefighters extinguished the car fire while paramedics provided treatment to the victim.
“It was a very intense situation,” Officer Michael Morris with Prince George’s County police said. “I’m just glad everyone turned out alright.”
