Two Austin Police Department officers were recognized for their “quick-thinking and bravery” in saving a man’s life earlier this week. Video recorded on Monday shows that Officers Chandler Carrera and Eddie Pineda pulled a man to safety from a burning vehicle just seconds before the truck exploded and was completely engulfed in flames.
The video shows an officer who appears to be Pineda repeatedly smashing a window on the driver’s side of the pickup truck. Carrera then appears to run on scene with a fire extinguisher. Once the door was open, the officers were able to drag the man to safety. Someone (it’s not clear who) could be heard screaming “fire extinguisher.” Then the vehicle explodes.
You can hear the explosion just before the :40-mark of the video above. Here is another video:
The Austin American-Statesman reported that this incident happened 20 minutes or so before 5 p.m. on Monday in The Enclave apartment complex parking lot. The man who was saved from the truck had a medical emergency that led to the sparking of the fire. According to the report, the unidentified individual parked his truck but, due to the medical emergency, was not able to take his foot off the accelerator; the spinning wheels caused the fire from there.
The Austin Fire Department said on Facebook that the man was “subsequently transported to the hospital by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services with serious, potentially life-threatening smoke inhalation injuries.”
Officers Carrera and Pineda were recognized by their department for their “heroic actions.”
“Assistant Chief Robin Henderson presented Officers Pineda and Carrera with a chief’s coin of recognition for their heroic actions yesterday,” the Austin Police Department posted Tuesday on Facebook. “They saved a man’s life by pulling him out of a burning vehicle. Please join us in recognizing these two officers for their quick-thinking and bravery! #OneAustinSaferTogether”
The Austin Fire Department also commended them for their bravery.
“We salute our brothers in blue from @Austin_Police—Officers Chandler Carrera and Eddie Pineda—who bravely risked their own lives at this car fire yesterday just before we arrived, smashing the window and dragging the man to safety,” the fire department said on Twitter, sharing a video of the incident.
[Image via Twitter/Austin Fire Department, Natalie Madden]