PLAINVILLE, Mass. — Dramatic video obtained by Boston 25 News shows an off-duty firefighter and several bystanders rushing to help after a fiery rollover crash on Interstate 495 in Plainville.
David Iarussi, an off-duty firefighter from Ashland, said he and his wife were heading home from Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon when they came upon the crash.
Iarussi said it was an electric vehicle that had rolled over, laying on its side, with the wheels still spinning, and had caught fire.
“I know how fast these cars can burn. My mindset was ‘I gotta get them out,’” Iarussi remembered.
The 63-year-old can be seen using a rock to smash the windshield as several others came to help.
Video from the scene shows a group of Good Samaritans scrambling to rescue people trapped inside the overturned vehicle. Some can be seen punching and kicking at the sunroof in an effort to break it open, while others used large rocks and even a fire extinguisher to try to gain access.
“There was a small hole that I was able to get up in and look. The driver was in front of me laying on the glass of the door and then I looked up and there was a woman that was upside down in her seatbelt,” Iarussi said. “The woman was pointing because she was upside down and she was basically telling me she couldn’t breathe. I don’t ever want to move anybody. I wanted to wait for fire and police and so on, but the fire changed everything.”
During those efforts, the car caught fire, adding urgency to the rescue.
“They were doing their best to keep this fire at bay. I could hear them. At one point, somebody’s yelling that the cell is about to explode,” Iarussi said.
Not long after, Iarussi pulled out the first occupant before rescuing the second.
Eventually, two people were pulled from the vehicle.
Authorities say the victims suffered serious injuries and are now recovering at a hospital in Rhode Island.
The circumstances leading up to the crash remain under investigation.
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