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Man Saves Baby From Car Moments Before The Vehicle Bursts Into Flames

March 9, 2020

A man jumped into action and saved a baby girl from a burning car after he heard her mother's screams for help.

Josh Railey / Credit: WMBD

Josh Railey was just leaving his birthday dinner at a restaurant in Peoria, Illinois, when he saw a silver sedan on fire.

"Just happened to see a car on fire, and it was dripping gasoline and filled with smoke," Railey said.

Railey says he saw two men get out of the car and a woman kick open the back door. When the woman started screaming about her baby, he knew he had to do something.

Railey ran up to the car. He wasn't able to see much, but he noticed the airbags were deployed. Once he slashed the airbags, he found the baby girl, wedged between the driver's seat and passenger seat. "You can't really see in the car because there's so much smoke," Railey said.

"I took a final swoop, and I found her. I took off, and then 30 seconds, minute later, I look back and the whole car was engulfed in flames."

Credit: WMBD

Emergency crews showed up shortly after the rescue.

Peoria Fire Battalion Chief Nate Rice says if it weren't for Railey, the baby could have died.

"We certainly don't want anybody to get hurt, but that might be their nature to make that choice to possibly save a life or help another person," Rice said.

Luckily, no one was seriously injured.