Good Samaritan Saves Woman From Burning Car Seconds Before It Explodes

An off-duty firefighter heroically rescued a woman from a fiery crash just seconds before flames engulfed her car. Andrew Nixon was driving with his fiancée on the I-10 Highway in St. Bernard, Louisiana, when he saw the woman’s vehicle collide with an 18-wheeler and spin off the road. Noticing that the tires were on fire, he immediately ran toward the wreck.

The driver’s door was slightly open, but it wouldn’t budge, and she didn’t respond when he talked to her. Nixon rushed to the other side of the car and began slamming the window until it shattered. Even then, the door wouldn’t open, and time was running out—flames were starting to enter the vehicle. “By the grace of God, I lifted her out,” he recounted to Fox8 News. He managed to pull her to safety just seconds before the car was engulfed in flames. The woman was airlifted to the hospital and is expected to fully recover.

Afterwards, Nixon said his instincts and training kicked in, along with a powerful memory. Earlier this year, his 3-year-old niece accidentally drowned. Ever since, he has thought, “I wish I could just grab her and pick her up” and been there to save her. When he rescued the woman from the burning car, he said he felt that God and his niece were watching over him, and he’s grateful he could save a life. He said, “It felt good to actually save someone.”