A FDNY lieutenant jumped into action when he and his wife came across a car that was engulfed in flames – with the driver trapped inside – in Brooklyn early Saturday.
The couple was driving home to Breezy Point from a friend’s house in Staten Island with their son and daughter, 7 and 6, around 3 a.m. when two cars went speeding past them on the Belt Parkway, FDNY Lt. Richard Cannon said.
Then, as the couple approached the Bay Parkway exit, they saw the BMW and Corvette had crashed in the middle of the highway, leaving the Corvette in flames.
Cannon’s training kicked in and he ran to the driver’s side of the car.
“I tried to get the victim out of the front seat, but that side of the car had damage to it and I couldn’t get the door open,” said the 43-year-old, whose been with the department for half his life. “The fire was continuing to grow. So I went to the passenger seat and reached over and unbuckled the victim.”
He had some trouble getting the man over the center console, but managed to pull him out, he said.
An off-duty EMT also pulled over and helped Cannon get him to the side of the road, where both of them tried to make the unconscious man comfortable.
By then, the fire department was on the scene, because Cannon had called the FDNY dispatcher, he said.
His wife, Lauren Cannon, said the couple’s 7-year-old son unfortunately woke up and saw the crash from the car. The 6-year-old didn’t stir.
“It’s a teachable moment to not go 110 miles per hour on the Belt Parkway,” the 40-year-old said.
Her husband, who’s from Ladder 148 in Borough Park, said his instinct was to help.
“It’s just what we do,” Cannon said. “Somebody needed help and we got them. I was just doing my job.”
