Police Officers Rescue Woman From Burning Car On Freeway

NEW BERLIN, WI — Two New Berlin police officers are being hailed as heroes after they saved a woman's life, by pulling her from a burning car.

According to the New Berlin police department, on Sunday, Oct. 8, officers Ryan Straus and Kyle Kegley were dispatched to drive a prisoner to the Greendale police department at about 3 a.m.

As they were driving in their squad car on I-894/43 near 84th St. in Greenfield, they came upon a one-vehicle accident on the shoulder of the road.

Officers quickly determined that this was no ordinary accident. The vehicle was on fire, and a woman was trapped inside. "I saw the flames, probably ten feet high, fifteen feet high," Straus told WISN 12.

The vehicle was badly damaged to the point where the doors would not open, all the airbags were deployed, and the engine compartment was fully engulfed in flames.

Images captured by the Department of Transportation's traffic camera showed the car engulfed in a fireball on the side of the road. Footage showed a concerned citizen running across lanes of traffic to respond to the woman, moments before police arrived.

Police say Kegley and Straus were the first officers to arrive on the scene. They were soon joined by a Greenfield police officer, who all worked together to pull the woman from the passenger window of the vehicle while attempting to keep the flames at bay with their fire extinguishers.

Straus said the woman was pulled from the burning vehicle. She suffered several cuts and was bleeding - but her life was saved.

"It's what we signed up to do as police officers," Kegley said to WISN 12. "Save that woman's life."

Images via New Berlin Police Department