Cobb Officer Pulls Woman From Burning Car

MARIETTA, GA -- Cobb County police officer Oscar Escarcega knew he had to do something when he and his partner arrived on the scene of a burning vehicle. The officers were responding to reports of a crash and overturned vehicle on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, around 8 pm. Before they arrived, dispatchers advised someone was still inside the vehicle and the vehicle was now beginning to burn.

The crash happened around South Cobb Drive and Gym Road. Escarcega and his partner arrived on scene with Marietta fire personnel and found the vehicle in the woodline engulfed in flames. As the officers and firefighters approached the vehicle, they were unable to get to the victim due to the large amount of fire and smoke.

A Dobbins Air Force Service Member, who had jumped a barbed wire fence from the base in an attempt to get to the wreck, told first responders he saw a woman inside the vehicle. First responders heard screams coming from the vehicle but then they abruptly stopped. Two of the Marietta firefighters moved to the passenger side of the vehicle with a hose and yelled that they could see the female inside the vehicle. Escarcega jumped a concrete barrier and ran toward the driver side of the vehicle that was still engulfed in flames and in a densely wooded area.

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A Marietta firefighter was able to get the door open, and Escarcega reached into the burning vehicle without hesitation and pulled the woman out. Escarcega and a Marietta firefighter carried the woman away from the vehicle and to safety on the other side of the concrete barrier to receive immediate medical treatment. The female, who appeared unconscious, had suffered severe burns from the fire; she was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where she is currently recovering in the burn unit.

Cobb Police Officer Oscar Escarcega. Image Cobb County Police