LAPD Officers Save Man!

Two LAPD officers were driving on the freeway when they came about a car that had caught on fire, after being involved in a collision. According to partner officers, who were working that night with them, this is an account of what the officers did when they came about the scene. Both officers, a training officer and a new probationary officer got out of their police car, and went over to the burning car. One of the officers tried to get the 52 year-old man out of the driver's seat, but when they grabbed onto his arm, his flesh was already burned so badly that it literally started to come off. Realizing that his seatbelt was still on, the officers cut him out of the seatbelt and then got him out of the car.

One of the officers took their fire extinguisher from the back of their patrol car and knocked out the rear window of the victim's burning car. The officer then sprayed into the rear of the car to extinguish the flames. As he was doing that, the man was yelling that his daughter was in the back seat. The officer's actions intensified as they were reaching into the burning car to grab a hold of his daughter, but after a few seconds, the fire took over and they were unable to go near the car any more. The father kept trying to get into the car but the officers had to restrain him so that he would not suffer more life threatening injuries, or death. It turns out that the teenager was most likely dead when the officers started to work on getting the driver out of the car (as the back seat was fully engulfed with flames as they were working on the driver).

The man was transported to a local hospital where he was in critical condition due to severe burns and smoke inhalation. Both officers suffered burns to their bodies, including the face of the probationary officer as he was closest to the driver while trying to free him from the car.

Here is how the car came to be burning in the traffic lanes of the freeway. One car had stalled for an unknown reason, however, other cars, including the Nissan Altima that eventually caught on fire, were able to stop in time. The car behind the Nissan Altima, however, did not stop in time, forcing the Nissan Altima into the car in front of him. That is when the Nissan Altima caught fire, and moments later, the LAPD officers happened to be driving, at the right place, and the right time. Another person who was in front of the Nissan Altima suffered a fractured leg and foot. According to the California Highway Patrol, drug and or alcohol did not seem to be a factor in this case. As many as seven other cars crashed while attempting to avoid the original collision.

I think that if you speak with most officers, they, including myself, will tell you that they would rather go after a man with a gun, then to go near a fire. Let the fire department, with all of their training and tools, do the intense work around a fire. But these officers put aside fears to do what needed to be done. I'm sure that they will beat themselves up for a while because they were not able to save the daughter; but in the mean time, I will give them my thanks, and respect.