The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — An off-duty Chicago firefighter pulled a man from a burning car after the man crashed into a Northwest Side residence.
The veteran firefighter with the help of two citizens smashed the man’s window with a fire extinguisher, unlocked the driver-side door and pulled the unconscious man from his burning vehicle, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva said.
The crash happened about 11:15 a.m. in the 3000 block of North Newland Avenue.
“The guy [victim] could been much worse off if he wasn’t pulled out,” Roccasalva said.
The man was breathing slow and was treated with oxygen on the scene by paramedics before he was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Roccasalva said the man suffered second-degree burns.
The firefighter, Mike Gunia, 56, who has been a firefighter for 22 years, was at his residence across the street when he heard the crash and responded to the scene.
When Gunia and two other citizens responded to the crash, the car was in flames, and the house it crashed into was on fire, Roccasalva said. The house had damage to its siding and one door. No one in the house was injured.
After pulling the man out of the car, Gunia went back home.
“Even after it was over, he went home and went about his business,” Roccasalva said.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Sun-Times