'What's Wrong With You?': Off-Duty Firefighter On Way To Disney Pulls Man From Burning Car

August 20, 2024

Today's good news story comes from Brooklyn, New York.

An off-duty New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Deputy Chief saved a man from a burning car while on his way to a family vacation.

FDNY hero
George Healy / FDNY

Early Monday morning, Deputy Chief George Healy, who has dedicated 34 years of service to the city, was beginning an 18-hour drive to Disney with his family. As they traveled along the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, traffic came to a sudden halt, and Chief Healy noticed a serious accident ahead.

Recognizing the signs of a fire, Healy sprang into action. "I jumped out of the car and started running up the highway," he recounted. Healy arrived at the scene to find two vehicles involved in the crash, with debris scattered across the road. The engine compartment of one car was engulfed in flames, and the fire was spreading rapidly.

With the passenger door caved in and the fire intensifying, Healy quickly assessed the situation and realized that a man was unconscious in the back seat. As the fire grew more dangerous, Healy, along with a police officer who had arrived on the scene, smashed the driver's side window and managed to open the door. Healy climbed into the back seat to find the man entangled in his seat belt, completely limp.

The car was filling with smoke, and the fire threatened to consume the entire vehicle. "The situation was rapidly deteriorating," Healy said. "If I didn't remove him in fairly short order, the fire was going to overwhelm the car." With the help of the police officer, Healy successfully freed the man and pulled him from the burning car, just in time.

"I've been doing this for 34 years. I knew there was no one there and if we didn't do something about this, the person wasn't going to get out," said Chief Healy. “When I went back to my car, a couple of other drivers approached me and said 'Man, you ran into that, what's wrong with you?' and I'm like, 'I'm a New York City firefighter; that’s what New York City firefighters do'."

Watch the good news video below.