A Maine-based trucker traveling from Boston to New Jersey is being credited with saving the life of a man and dog after a multi-vehicle collision on I-95 left turned a passenger vehicle into an inferno.
When emergency crews responded to a crash on the southbound side of I-95 near Fairfield, Connecticut, they discovered a lone trucker had acted selflessly to pull a passenger from a burning vehicle.
“We found out that a truck driver from Maine was the true hero in this. He had stopped when no one else had. He used his tractor-trailer to protect the scene. He went up to the vehicle that was starting to burn,” Fairfield Assistant Fire Chief George Gomola reportedly said.
It was 34-year-old trucker Charlie Lane who pulled to the shoulder to investigate the burning passenger vehicle. He noticed no one was standing near the automobile.
“I stopped because nobody was checking the car, and when I opened the door to the car, there was a man. And the flames were starting to get pretty big. I had a hard time getting him unbuckled. I mean, he was kind of dazed and confused, but I was relieved when I heard that seatbelt thing release,” Lane reportedly said. “While I was dragging him out, I see something moving in the back. It was a dog.
After carrying the injured driver to safety, Lane went back into the fiery wreck to retrieve the German shepherd named Stella.
Assistant Chief Gomola explained that the flames spread quickly through the vehicle. He reportedly said other good Samaritans unsuccessfully tried to suppress the flames with portable extinguishers, making “the actions of the tractor-trailer driver that much more heroic.”
“If he hadn’t helped, the situation would’ve been very, very different,” Gomola reportedly said. “He made a difference.”
For the trucker’s part, he indicated that bravely entering a burning vehicle and then returning to save the German shepherd was simply “the right thing to do.” The driver was rushed to the hospital and the dog was transported to Fairfield Animal Hospital. The driver suffered a broken clavicle and cracked ribs. Stella did not sustain an injury in the crash.
“My husband and I are eternally grateful to the truck driver who was there last night to help him and our dog. God bless him. We are overwhelmed by his bravery and courage,” the driver’s wife reportedly said. “He is definitely our hero and angel.”
Source: https://connecticut.news12.com/true-hero-truck-driver-pulls-man-and-dog-from-burning-car-on-i-95
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