Toms River South Grad Turned Florida Trooper Rescues Driver From Burning Car

News reports out of Florida of a state trooper who pulled an unconscious man from a burning car are getting play here in New Jersey, as the trooper has been identified as a Toms River native.

Robert Duckers, who graduated from Toms River High School South in 2011, is being lauded as a hero for his efforts to rescue a man whose car skidded off Interstate 275 in the Tampa area on Monday evening, according to a report by Bay News 9, a television station from the area.

“TRS Alumni Robert Duckers Heroic Save” is how the Toms River Regional School District labeled the story when it shared the Bay News 9 report on the district’s Facebook page.

Duckers, 22, was helping a driver whose car had broken down when the car driven by Michael Brewer veered off a nearby exit ramp and into some trees, where it burst into flames.

A witness told the TV station that Duckers ran to the car, smashed a window and pulled Brewer out. Duckers then administered first aid until paramedics arrived, the report said.

“I was just doing my job,” Duckers told the TV station in a follow-up interview on Tuesday.

Duckers has worked for the Florida Highway Patrol for about a year and a half, according to the TV station’s report.