Cops rescue man from burning car
Published: April 30, 2007
Three Chicago police officers rescued a man who was trapped in his car this morning shortly after it collided with a sport-utility vehicle and caught fire on Chicago’s West Side.
“In about two seconds, he would have gone up (in flames) with us if we didn’t get him out,” said one of the rescuers, Harrison District Sgt. Michael Spagnola. “I have soot marks on my shirt so this one’s going in the garbage.”
Spagnola was on patrol shortly before 1 a.m. when he was flagged down by the driver of the SUV at Chicago and Homan Avenues. The sergeant said he then saw flames erupt from under the hood of the car, and rushed over to try and get the man, who was unconscious, out through the driver’s side door.
But Spagnola was unable to open it becuase “it was creased and smashed in.”
Shortly thereafter, Harrison District Officers John Dulcason and Oscar Serrano arrived to assist Spagnola, and the three broke through the window of the front passenger’s side door to unlock it. By then, “flames were shooting out from the engine compartment through the dashboard from underneath the windshield,” the sergeant said.
The officers got a hold of the man’s waist and arms, and managed to wriggle him free from under the steering column, where he was pinned. Spagnola said the man regained consciousness once he was out of the car.
“I think the cold from the pavement woke him up. (Before that) he was limp as could be,” Spagnola said.
The man was taken via ambulance to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was reported in critical condition this morning. He “was all banged up,” Spagnola said, adding the victim suffered cuts to his face and arms.
The three officers suffered minor cuts and smoke inhalation, and did not require hospitalization. The driver of the SUV was not hurt.
One or two citizens helped the officers break through glass. One of them even tried to douse the flames with a bucket of water, the sergeant said, but the flames proved too intense.
When asked if he feared for his life during the rescue effort, Spagnola said, “There’s always a little bit of fear, but you’re not thinking about it.”
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