MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, Boston — In a few months, you can call Shane Stephenson the title he’s long aspired to -- firefighter. What he doesn’t want to be called today is a hero.
But some might be tempted to do so, after what happened Thursday morning. Stephenson, a firefighter-in-training, was on his way to work at the Manchester-By-The-Sea Fire Department -- just his third day on the job -- when he ran into a traffic jam on Route 128 North in Beverly.
Nothing terribly unusual about bad traffic on 128 at 8 AM -- except Stephenson also saw smoke. It was coming from a car that had crashed over the guardrail and into a wooded area. It was about to burst into flames, with the driver still inside.
“Right place, right time... that’s all,” Stephenson said later.
But he was also the right person. For the last 13 years, Stephenson worked as an EMT for a private ambulance company in the Merrimack Valley. Tending to traumatized patients is right up his alley.
“My big thing was making sure the patient was out and then I let the professionals take care of the fire,” Stephenson said.
Those professionals -- members of the Beverly Fire Department -- had trouble getting to the scene because of the huge back-up behind the burning vehicle. By the time they arrived, Stephenson and two commuters managed to get the driver out and away from the flames.
Stephenson wound up five minutes late for work -- but had the best excuse a firefighter could ask for: helping someone in distress.
As for heroics... Stephenson saved that praise for the two civilians who got out of their vehicles and ran over to help the driver before he even got there.
“They were the ones who really helped out, made a positive impact in helping him get out of the vehicle,” Stephenson said. “They were the heroes.”
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