Three heroic bystanders saved the lives of a man and a child trapped in a burning car in Brooklyn last night.
“The fire started crackling and popping and the flames were getting pretty high,” said one of the rescuers, Shaun Moses. “To see nothing but smoke in the car and then two unconscious bodies was scary.”
The car was idling in a driveway in front of a home on Paerdergat 12th Street in Canarsie at about 9:30 p.m. when it suddenly caught fire.
Moses, who was inside the house, ran to the car with his uncle and a neighbor – but the car was locked and they couldn’t get inside.
He raced back inside, grabbed a decorative brass elephant, and used it to smash the window.
He then reached into the smoky car and struggled to pull out the unconscious driver.
“I dropped him because I inhaled some of the smoke,” Moses said.
After catching his breath, Moses rescued the man, identified by police as Bernard Williams, 37. The neighbor then broke the passenger-side window and pulled out the 3-year-old boy – whose name was not released – as the fire became more intense.
Firefighters, who put out the blaze, blamed a faulty exhaust pipe. The victims were treated at Brookdale Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition.