Dallas police officers are sharing their experience after helping to rescue a man from a burning car. NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen reports how all of it was caught on camera.
Dallas police officers are sharing their experience after helping to rescue a man from a burning car.
They teamed up with a group of strangers to save his life. And all of it was caught on camera.
Dallas Police Department posted the video from body camera and witness footage over the weekend. The three Dallas officers -- Jonathan Martinez, Israel Banales and Johnathan Calder -- spoke with NBC 5 about the close call.
"I think our training tells us to think on our feet. We don't know what we're going to expect when we go out to a call, always prepare for the worst," said officer Martinez.
The incident happened on Sept. 19 at Scyene Road and Bruton Road in East Dallas.
Officers were called to a six-vehicle crash, with one of the cars engulfed in flames. A man was still inside, unconscious.
Bystanders were seen trying to put the flames out themselves with buckets and bottles of water, anything they could find. Officer Banales grabbed a fire extinguisher to help.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The officers attempted to pull the man out but they said the smoke was pitch black and the car was so hot, it was melting and dripping onto them.
Still, strangers and officers worked together.
The seat belt wouldn't come off so another witness cut it with a knife. Another person broke a window and crawled inside to loosen the man's foot, allowing officers to pull him out to safety.
"If it wasn't for the people trying to help us keep the fire down, breaking the back window, supplying a knife to help cut the seatbelt, if it wasn't for those citizens there's no way that man would still be here today," said officer Calder.
The man -- who has not been publicly identified by police -- was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries. We're still waiting to know if he made a full recovery.
Dallas Police said they are still investigating the cause of that crash.
