(VIDEO) What volunteer Fire Chief Nate Tracey did Monday morning was what any trained rescue worker would have done, he said. He just happened to be the first one there.
The call came in as a crash with unknown injuries. It was in the first block of Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township and Tracey's department, Goodwill Fire Company, was the first one assigned to the incident. One of the bystanders, a construction worker, had emptied her fire extinguisher on the blaze, but the fire still raged.
"I scanned the whole area, thinking, 'Where's the patient at?'" Tracey said.
He didn't see anyone on the ground near the vehicle, so he knew the victim was still inside the smoking car.
Firefighters are trained to put on all of their gear before a rescue, but Tracey just grabbed his coat, thinking he would cover up the victim's face and upper body to shield him from the fire.
Then, it was upgraded to a crash with entrapment, he said.
When Tracey, a 27-year firefighting veteran, arrived at the 10:30 a.m. crash, the front of the car was crumpled from striking a utility pole and its back end was engulfed in flames. One of the bystanders, a construction worker, had emptied her fire extinguisher on the blaze, but the fire still raged.
"I scanned the whole area, thinking, 'Where's the patient at?'" Tracey said.
He didn't see anyone on the ground near the vehicle, so he knew the victim was still inside the smoking car.
Firefighters are trained to put on all of their gear before a rescue, but Tracey just grabbed his coat, thinking he would cover up the victim's face and upper body to shield him from the fire.