Reading Police Chief Mark Segalla Commends Residents on Swift Action

Chief Mark D. Segalla reports that the Reading Police Department responded to a car crash yesterday where the driver and passenger were pulled to safety by two bystanders after the vehicle caught fire.

On Monday, May 29, at approximately 2 p.m., Reading Police responded to the intersection of Salem Street (Route 129) and Pearl Street on a report of a motor vehicle crash. Dispatch informed responding officers that the vehicle was on fire with possible entrapment.

Upon arrival, police found a 2003 Ford Taurus on fire, which had crashed into a utility pole, causing it to snap in half and wires to fall on the roadway.

Witnesses on scene told officers that the driver, a 56-year-old Burlington woman and her passenger, a 17-year-old Burlington girl, had been pulled out of the burning car by two men who were in the area at the time of the crash.

Police also spoke with a witness who stated he was in the area and heard the crash occur. He ran to the scene, and when saw the car on fire with two people trapped inside, worked with another bystander to remove the two women.

An investigation by the Reading Police Department indicates that the driver appeared to have a medical emergency at the time of the crash.

The driver was transported to an area hospital.

"I want to commend these two bystanders for their heroic actions that saved the lives of the women in the vehicle," Chief Segalla said. "This situation could have ended differently if it weren't for their quick thinking and selflessness."

The incident remains under investigation by the Reading Police Department.