WATCH — ‘They Are Heroes’: Arizona Policeman, Firefighter Rescue Woman from Burning Pickup After Crash
A woman was rescued from a fiery car crash in the nick of time on a highway in Mesa, Arizona, on Tuesday.
Flames erupted moments after a cement mixer rear-ended a pickup truck, sending the pickup flipping onto its side, WBAL-TV reported on Thursday.
Video footage shows the moments before the crash happened, with traffic moving along smoothly. Further into the clip, the cement mixer’s brake lights flash and it veers onto the shoulder. However, it then smashes into the rear of the pickup truck, sending it onto its side as other motorists are seen trying to slow down and stop:
When Chandler Police Officer Brian Larison and an off-duty firefighter came upon the scene, they immediately went into rescue mode to save the pickup driver, Aymee Ruiz, from inside her burning vehicle.
The policeman’s body camera caught the moment he approaches the pickup. Bystanders tried to help rescue Ruiz, but Larison used his baton to smash the window in order to free her.
When Ruiz was finally extracted from the vehicle, the firefighter was seen pulling her away from it to safety.
Larison recalled, “She clung to me on the side of the road and I just held her and I just told her I had her.”
According to Fox 10, the police officer and firefighter are both Marine veterans whose training helped them know exactly what to do in the tense and dangerous situation.
“The thought of human life perishing by flames. I just, you know, I was like, ‘I cannot let this happen,’” Larison said.
The firefighter, identified as Asa Paguia, was about to start his shift with the Peoria Fire Department when the crash happened. He was carrying his gear and he quickly put it on and rushed to the scene.
Ruiz, who has some cuts and bruises from the incident, and her husband, Nate Ferguson, now want to make sure the bystanders and first responders who saved her life are thanked, per AZFamily.com.
Ferguson said, “Thank you to all of them. I know that the police officer and the firefighter, they’ve probably heard it a million times, but they are heroes. They really saved her life, and we don’t know how to repay them or thank them enough.”
Ruiz thanked the policeman and firefighter over the phone and they are planning to meet on Thursday.
When speaking of his calling to serve others, Larison said, “My contract says payable with my life, if necessary. Just know we’re not just putting the badge on and going to work, you know? We’re human beings, we have emotions and our job is every one of you — to make sure you’re okay.”
