On Vacation in Georgia, Upper West Side Firefighter Rescues Man From Burning Vehicle

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — New York City's first responders are always ready in case of an emergency. While vacationing in Georgia, a firefighter normally stationed on the Upper West Side rescued a man from a burning vehicle, and his wife got the whole thing on camera.

FDNY Captain Ciro Napolitano told Eyewitness News that while driving on Georgia's Interstate 95 he and his wife came upon the grisly scene of two or three crashed vehicles with plumes of smoke rising above them. Seeing no first responders in sight, Napolitano's instincts kicked in.

"Ran out like 10 feet in front, saw what was going on, went to the back of the car because I keep a crowbar and some gloves back there," Napolitano told Eyewitness News.

Napolitano's wife, Antoinetta recorder her husband's brave act on a cellphone video.

"I'm very proud of him but at the same time I was very scared for him," she told Eyewitness News. "He's going in and out of this car, it's lighting up all the time, the smoke. But he's a first responder..nobody would've walked away from that."

Napolitano is a 30-year FDNY veteran and a Brooklyn native, Eyewitness News reported, at the time of the rescue he and his wife were vacationing to celebrate their 31st anniversary.

>>> See the full Eyewitness News report here.

Photo: aherrero via Flickr/creative commons