Daring Flaming Car Rescue Caught On Dash Cam Video

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FL — A Wednesday morning crash in Indian River County could have had a much different outcome had it not been for two deputies who braved burns to rescue a woman trapped inside a flaming car.

That’s Sheriff Deryl Loar’s take after reviewing a dash cam video of the daring rescue. The deputies, Robert Sunkel and Linda Nolan, were the first on the scene after the three-vehicle collision on Oslo Road and 66th Avenue.

According to the sheriff’s office, a woman driving a small car pulled out of the intersection in front of a septic tanker truck. A collision between the two vehicles and a refuse flatbed truck occurred. The woman’s car and the septic truck “immediately ignited into fire, causing both vehicles to be engulfed in flames,” the sheriff’s office wrote on its Facebook page.

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Sunkel was the first of the two deputies to arrive. When he learned from witnesses that the woman was trapped inside the car, he grabbed his baton and rushed into action to break out the window and open the passenger’s side door. Sunkel, however, quickly learned the woman was trapped by her seat belt, steering wheel and airbag.

As Sunkel attempted to pull the woman from the flaming car, Nolan arrived on the scene and tried to use a fire extinguisher to reduce the flames. When that didn’t work, the sheriff’s office said, the two deputies joined forces to free the woman from the obstructions and pull her to safety. Their combined efforts, the sheriff’s office said, paid off.

“We are so proud of Deputies Sunkel and Nolan for their life-saving efforts earlier this morning,” Loar said. “Video of the incident shows that despite danger to themselves, they continued to work to save this woman from her burning car.”

Nolan suffered burns to her hand in the process and was treated at Indian River Medical Center. The woman, who has not yet been identified, was airlifted to a local hospital. Her condition remains unknown.

The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.

Indian River County Sheriff’s Office video screenshot