Off-Duty Firefighter Pulls Woman From Burning Car Just Seconds Before It Explodes

October 10, 2025

A Louisiana firefighter is being hailed a hero after saving a woman from a fiery crash on Interstate 10 — while off duty.

Andrew Nixon

Andrew Nixon, a firefighter with St. Bernard Parish, was driving home from a wedding with his fiancée when he spotted flames ahead near the Mississippi state line. A car had collided with an 18-wheeler and was quickly catching fire.

“All I did see is her just veering off to the left, and I had seen that her tires were on fire,” Nixon recalled. Realizing someone was trapped inside, he stopped his vehicle and ran toward the burning car.

“I run up to the car. I’m trying to ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is anyone else in the car?’ But she’s not answering,” he said. “So, I run around to the other side — to the right passenger side — and honestly, I had tunnel vision. I started freaking out and I was like, ‘I got to get her out, some kind of way.’”

With flames growing, Nixon used his bare hands to smash through the windshield, cutting himself in the process. As smoke filled the car, he knew he had only moments left.

“I seen the flames coming into the car,” he said. “So, I knew I had to get her out right then and there, or else. I grabbed her and somehow, by the grace of God, I literally lifted her up, pulled her out the top of the door, brought her to the side. … She literally had seconds before that car was fully engulfed.”

Firefighters from St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 1 arrived moments later, but by then the vehicle was already consumed by flames.

“His instincts took over. His training took over,” said Fire Chief Chris Kaufmann. “He went straight into her car and did whatever it took to get her out. Because he knew if he didn’t, she wasn’t going to make it. He was her last chance.”

For Nixon, the rescue held a deeply personal meaning. Earlier this year, his young niece Everleigh tragically drowned. He says the moment on the highway felt like she was there with him.

“I remember, every single day, saying I wish I could just grab her and pick her up,” Nixon said. “And I feel like in that moment, God and Everleigh were with me and helped me lift the driver up out of that car.”

The woman was airlifted to a New Orleans hospital and is now recovering. Nixon’s hands were cut and bruised, but he says the experience brought unexpected healing.

“It helped me a lot. It definitely did,” he shared. “It just felt good to actually save somebody.”