001[music] >> I was driving home on 495 north. We were entering the Foxborough area. And my wife noticed that someone had pulled over like abruptly. And she asked me what was going on and I said, "I have a feeling it's going to be an accident." Anybody have an ice? As soon as I said that, as I was slowing down, they came around that vehicle and saw the vehicle on its side. The The wheels were still spinning on the side. So, then I noticed it was on fire. The underside of the car was the top was on fire. There were flames you could see? Yes. Yeah. And when you saw that, what were you thinking? What were you feeling? I just said, "This It's an accident and there's going to be people in there and I
002want to get them out." So, what did you What did you do next? Uh Uh believe it or not, but the people in front of us, this gentleman had a broken leg and he handed me his crutch to use on the the window. So, I'm running down the side of the road towards the car with the crutch. But it it didn't help. And the reason it didn't help was the windshield was already shattered. But it was laminated. And the a lamination is is kind of thick plastic. So, that's when I looked at the ground and saw a rock, you know, a bunch of big rocks. I'm like, "I'm going to have to do that." And then I I was able to break it apart enough that that's when I reached in and started I was
003actually pulling the plastic apart. And as you see, Was it clear to you at the time that these people were trapped in like You you I'm sure you know who they >> they were trapped, but I didn't know how many people were in the car. So what I did is if you see in the video there was a small hole that I was able to get up in and look. And the the driver was in front of me basically supine laying on the on the glass of the door. And the Stanwell was to my left. And then I looked up and there was a woman that was upside down in the seat belt. Okay. I guess the second part of my question was more or less like you realize that they're trapped in there and
004I'm sure from your experience you know that seconds count with those electric vehicles. So >> Well well the situation was is I don't ever want to move anybody and I wanted to wait for the fire and police and and so on. But the fire changed everything. And I know how fast these cars can burn up. So that my mindset was I got to get them off because I know how long it takes to get from the initial call to a highway that's completely stopped with traffic. You know that's why the breakdown lane is so important. Don't go in a breakdown lane. That's where the apparatus needs to get by. And um thankfully um kudos to the state police troopers. Two of them arrived pretty much immediately as far as I can remember. And they also
005started doing uh fire control cuz I saw them with a fire extinguisher. And you know there was a lot of people coming um which I also think thank goodness people stopped and helped me, you know. What happened when the video Well we saw one of the videos that that cut off. So you get them I assume you get both of them out and then I assume the car catches on fire. Can you that kind of >> car was on fire the whole time. But really catches. So then the the off-duty people and and whoever was on the back side which we couldn't really see. Once in a while you see them come around with the extinguishers and stuff. They were doing their best to keep this fire contained. I mean, I could hear you know,
006at one point somebody's yelling that the cell was about to explode. You know. But at that point I really had I had nothing to do with that. I had to do with this. So. And then some little bird in the background yelling at me to get away and that was my wife. >> [laughter] >> And you said you used the that broke the man with the broken leg's crushed. What other things were people using to try and get open? Oh, these these guys were not fooling around. I mean, I saw somebody punching it with their fists. Yeah. You know. And but the problem is is it wasn't the issue with the glass. It was the issue with the laminate. So, a lot of people say, "Oh, well, I have a center punch emergency kit so
007on and so forth." Yes, that's good for certain vehicles with side windows. But uh windshields and sunroofs are laminate to protect us. You need a little saw. Some people know what's a keyhole saw or any type of little saw that you can cut the glass and the plastic. >> Honey, back up, honey. What kind of pull do you to pull to the side of the road and run towards it? I don't even remember doing that. No. It's just firefighters, police officers, emergency care people, they don't think about that. They think about helping.