A heroic firefighter saved a family of five from a burning vehicle all by himself.
- A firefighter single-handedly rescued a family of five trapped inside a burning car.
- Ed Durante was hailed “a true hero and a legend” by his co-workers after saving the people from the blaze.
- Following the incident that took place on the A38 in South Devon, all five victims were taken to hospital.
Ed Durante was hailed a hero by his colleagues after single-handedly saving a family of five from a burning car on a motorway. The harrowing incident occurred at 4:06 pm on the southbound A38 near Chudleigh, South Devon, on Sunday, Daily Mail reports.
Thankfully, Durante, an on-call temporary watch manager with The Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and a paramedic with South Western Ambulance Service Trust, quickly reacted and rescued the victims.
The firefighter’s colleagues called him “a true hero and a legend” for saving five people trapped inside a burning vehicle.
Following the firefighter’s heroic deed, The Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service commented:
“I’m sure more information will come out, but this afternoon our very own Ed Durante came across a serious RTC [Road Traffic Collision] whilst off duty. He has single-handedly rescued a family of five from a burning vehicle!
A true hero and legend. Fire control salutes you Ed.”
Ed Durante @DSFireUpdates & Craig Jones @CornwallFRS were both off duty when they separately came across this car fire on the A38 in Devon
They pulled a family of five out of the burning car before it exploded
Other off duty 999 + medical staff helped care for the casualties pic.twitter.com/QApNZ0TllV
— BBC Radio Cornwall (@BBCCornwall) June 28, 2021
Touched by his co-workers’ appreciation, Durante replied:
“Thank you, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. Important to mention another off-duty Firefighter from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service who also rescued casualties. So lucky to have large array of off-duty medical clinicians and a police officer stop to assist with the treatment and triage of casualties also.”
According to the fire service, the incident involved three fire appliances.
One person was taken to Derriford Hospital, while two others were taken to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, as per DevonLive.
Gerald Taylor, area manager and head of response and partnerships for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said:
“We’d like to thank all who helped at the incident and hope those who were in the car make a speedy recovery. It’s also a timely reminder of the need to take care when driving in heavy rain.”
Furthermore, a spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police explained:
“Police were called to reports of a serious single-vehicle road traffic collision on the A38 near Chudleigh just after 4pm today on June 27. The vehicle was reported to be on fire at the scene. The collision was also attended by the fire service and ambulance crews.
The A38 was closed in both directions for a time to allow emergency services to manage the scene but the northbound carriageway was reopened at around 6.15pm. Five casualties were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries and three with less serious injuries.”
They also urged the public to help with the investigation if they have any further information.
“If you witnessed the collision, have any information or dashcam footage that could help the investigation, please email [email protected] or call 101, quoting log 646 of Sunday 27 June.”
