Inver Grove Heights Officer Recognized for Helping Save Two From Burning Car

It was the last thing Inver Grove Heights Police Sergeant Sean Folmar expected to see: A burning vehicle, twisted around a tree, with two people still trapped inside.

What happened next, Folmar said, was simply his duty, what any trained emergency responder would do when confronted with such a dangerous situation.

His superiors disagree. On Friday, Feb. 11, the Dakota County Chiefs of Police Association gave Folmar the Award of Honor for his extraordinary role in saving the two motorists trapped in the vehicle.

Folmar, a sergeant and 16-year veteran with the Inver Grove Heights Police Department, was on patrol just before 2am on Aug. 29, 2010 when the first call came in over dispatch. It was a car accident, dispatch said. Then they radioed that the car had rolled over and was on fire.

Folmar was a half-mile away from the accident site on Babcock Trail in Inver Grove Heights. He reached the scene in less than a minute.

What the sergeant found when he arrived defied any reasonable expectations. The car, wrapped around a tree on the side of the road, was suspended several feet in the air. Already, the engine block of the vehicle was smoldering.

Folmar, the first emergency responder on the scene, grabbed his fire extinguisher and rushed to contain the flames. The extinguisher “knocked the fire down,” but wasn’t powerful enough to put out the burning oil and engine fluids, Folmar said.

So the sergeant enlisted a nearby homeowner. Together, they rolled a garden hose over to the vehicle and started spraying water on the engine. But when the trapped driver yelled that he feet were burning, Folmar knew he couldn’t wait to free the occupants. The sergeant handed the driver a knife, which he used to cut through his seatbelt and free himself. Bystanders helped the passenger out of the vehicle.

Less than a minute later, the car was fully engulfed in flames.

Officers responding to accident scenes have to take a number of things into account, Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Chuck Kleckner said. They must quickly assess whether other emergency personnel, like paramedics or firefighters, will be needed. They must also secure the scene, Kleckner said, and make sure that passing cars don’t pose a danger to the accident victim or emergency responders.

The sergeant’s response, Kleckner said, was by the book.

“Sean’s extremely hardworking, very intelligent, once of those guys that sees the big picture,” Kleckner said. “I think he went through [the scene] logically. He realized that he had people trapped in [the car].”

The cause Aug. 29 crash is still under investigation, and may lead to criminal charges, Kleckner added.

The Dakota County Chiefs of Police Association presented Folmar with the award at its first-ever recognition banquet last Friday at the Mendakota Country Club.

“This is the first time we have presented an award to members of Dakota County law enforcement. The actions being recognized reflect just a portion of the great work being done on a daily basis throughout our Dakota County communities.” Association President and Burnsville Police Chief Bob Hawkins wrote in a press release.

Folmar said he put his own personal safety concerns aside when he rushed to rescue the motorists.

“You worry whether it’s going to explode, or if the gas tank going to catch on fire,” Folmar said. “It always enters you mind, but you don’t really think about it at the moment.”