The overturned convertible was smoldering, when police pulled up to it on a New Jersey roadway. The driver was pinned inside — and unconscious.
Not knowing when the car might burst into full flame, they scrambled to save her, while a police dash cam rolled. CNN obtained the footage from affiliate WPIX.
Kinnelon Police Officers Mark Ehrenberg and Ricky Ferriola cut the seat belt from her, then dragged the woman’s limp body away from the crash to start emergency medical care. Not a minute later, flames licked out of the car.
Two more minutes — an explosion.
All three were lucky to escape the flames.
Report of an erratic driver
The rescue started when someone reported an erratic driver on Thursday, and the officers sped off to investigate.
When they pulled up at the scene, the 2006 Toyota Solara convertible was already a smoking wreck.
Its horn was blaring.
‘Can you hear me?’
The officers ran over to the flipped over car, and shouted over the honking horn at the driver, “Can you hear me?” No response, not even a gesture, the video showed.
It took them two minutes to cut off the seat belt, as smoke kept rising. Once they had her in safety, the officers hooked the driver up to a defibrillator and started CPR.
The woman, identified by the Kinnelon Police Department as Dawn Milosky, 45, of Beachwood, New Jersey, was airlifted to Morristown Medical Center and survived.
She’s been charged with driving while intoxicated, having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, reckless driving and with failure to stay in her lane, according to WPIX.
‘A lot of times, we don’t think about our own safety’
Kinnelon Police Sgt. Chris Carbone told WPIX that they released the video to show that the driver may have died, if others had not informed the police.
As for his colleagues’ bravery, he said, “A lot of times, we don’t think of our own safety doing this job.”