Crashed car on fire
Rescuer: “It was clear we had to get him out!”
In an accident in Styria on Friday evening, a driver crashed into a tree. A few seconds before the car was on fire, two Styrians were able to pull the victim out of the wreckage. One of the rescuers describes the dramatic moments to the "Krone" newspaper.
"You don't even think about what could happen, you just react" - Styrian Herbert T. from the Leibnitz district was on his way from his afternoon shift to his local pub on Friday evening when he came across the accident in a wooded area in Pirching am Traubenberg. A car had crashed into a tree and smoke was billowing out of the hood.
"Another driver was already there before me and had already started the rescue chain," says the 48-year-old CNC technician. "It was clear that every second counted, we had to get him out of there." Shortly afterwards, flames were already shooting out of the front of the car.
Difficult operation
"The driver was lying in the passenger seat, obviously seriously injured but responsive," explains Herbert T. Using the Rautek rescue handle, he managed to pull the Styrian out. Fortunately, he was not trapped. "Why did I think of the handle at that moment? I have no idea. I learned it 30 years ago in the fire department and it obviously stuck in my memory."
"It really was a last-second rescue," emphasizes fire department incident commander Patrick Pichler, commander of the Heiligenkreuz am Waasen fire brigade. The car was immediately on fire. In general, it was a very challenging operation for the firefighters.
I don't know what would have happened if we had arrived ten minutes later. I don't even want to imagine it.
Lebensretter Herbert T.
"Gasoline ran out"
The extinguishing work was very difficult. "There was a steep embankment in the middle of the forest, the gasoline was running out." The car had a full tank. "Despite using extinguishing foam, it took almost two hours to fight the fire." Normally it takes less than 30 minutes.
A stroke of fate
"I don't know what would have happened if we had gotten there ten minutes later. I don't even want to imagine it," says the lifesaver. He even knows the 25-year-old man involved in the accident: "I always go to my local pub on Fridays after work, and he's often there too." The pub is only one kilometer away from the accident site. Saving his life was probably fate.
The driver of the car involved in the accident was taken to Graz Regional Hospital by the Red Cross and is said to be stable. Herbert T. would be delighted to see the young Styrian again soon in their shared pub.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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