CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Three people were seriously injured after neighbors and an off-duty Army captain pulled them from the burning wreckage following a collision.
The crash occurred Sunday when 59-year-old Mark Ricketts, the driver of a SUV, collided head on with a sedan driven by William Thompson, 67. His wife Kathleen was in the passenger seat. All three were trapped in their vehicles after the fiery crash, WNCN reports.
Neighbor Everett Bacon grabbed fire extinguishers from his home to try to put out the blaze, and said the windows and doors of the vehicles were locked. Neighbor John Spurrell helped rescue Ricketts from his SUV, then recorded the scene with his cell phone.
Army Capt. Steve Voglezon was on the way to the mall with his girlfriend when he saw the scene and ran to help. He used a fire extinguisher to break the windows of the sedan and rescue the Thompsons.
All three people were transported to UNC Hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
“We have a calling to do whatever we we’re called to do,” Voglezon said. “Today I was called to be there at that spot at that time.”