Austin,TX - Three people put their own lives on the line to help rescue a man trapped in a burning truck in Southwest Austin.
It happened late Thursday on Highway 290. Bystanders called 911, and tapes reveal panic and fear in their voices. Damion Stone, a Lube Pit Stop employee, was one of the first to call.
"The guy is crumpled inside. Help is on the way, help is on the way. The car is on fire man. The car is on fire!" he said in the 911 call.
Employees at both the Pizza Hut and the Lube Pit Stop heard the loud crash. The vehicle was engulfed in flames when they ran outside.
Two employees from the Lube Pit Stop and one from the Pizza Hut rushed to the scene.
Richard Slack, manager of the Lube Pit Stop, grabbed a fire extinguisher from a stopped school bus and took action.
"He was stuck in there and the car was on fire. Basically I took the fire extinguisher and shot inside first because that is where I saw the flames coming up inside the vehicle," he said.
Stone tried to calm the driver and guide help to the crash site.
"The three of us were out there -- the first ones on the scene putting the fire out. I was relaying all of the information to 911. I had to run back here to get another fire extinguisher," he said.
The three Good Samaritans put out the blaze before the fire department arrived. They likely saved the man's life.
Stone says they didn't think twice about helping, "I just hope that somebody would do the same thing for me if my car caught on fire and i was trapped in it." |
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