The dramatic rescue of a man trapped in a burning car and saved by a police officer was shared by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department after they released the officer’s bodycam footage on YouTube. Senior Police Officer Dan Whitney responded to a 3 a.m. highway accident to find an SUV engulfed in flames against a large tree.
A man was yelling for help from a small, rear driver-side window, but he was trapped by the airbag and the bent car frame. The first thing Whitney did when he arrived was to retrieve his fire extinguisher and try and put out the fire.
At one point in the harrowing video, he calls out to a nearby home for a garden hose or another fire extinguisher, as his device was not putting out the blaze. That’s when he turned his attention to trying to free the passenger.
“The impact of the accident had bent the frame and all the doors were jammed shut, so Whitney bent the door frame back enough to pull the man through the small rear window,” the department explained on YouTube. “As he was doing this, an explosion from under the hood knocked off his hat and body-worn camera.”
Sadly, the driver of the vehicle (who could not be seen until after the flames were extinguished) burned to death in the fire, the department revealed. If Whitney had not rescued the passenger when he did, the passenger would likely have suffered the same tragic fate, as the backseat of the vehicle was completely melted and gutted within minutes.
Thank goodness Officer Whitney acted so bravely and so quickly!
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