Trending Topics

Off-duty FDNY fire capt. saves man from burning car

Captain Circo Napolitano was driving through Georgia with his wife when the crash unfolded in front of them

fdny-capt-ga-FR.jpg

Capt. Napolitano working to extricate the driver from the crashed vehicle.

Photo/Twitter

By FireRescue1 Staff

WOODBINE, Ga. — An off-duty FDNY fire captain made a close save last week after pulling a man from a burning vehicle.

Capt. Ciro Napolitano, 55, was driving with his wife through Georgia returning from vacation when a crash unfolded in front of them, reported the New York Daily News.

Capt. Napolitano pulled the trapped driver from beneath the steering wheel and crumpled dashboard.

“I had to get him out of there because otherwise he was going to burn to death,” Capt. Napolitano said. “It just clicked in: ‘I gotta do my job.’ I’m off-duty but it doesn’t matter to me.”

The 30-year veteran said he managed to free the man as flames from the engine began to quickly spread through the vehicle. A passenger in the vehicle had also been ejected from the window and was lying in the median 100 feet from the scene. A third passenger was walking around the highway in a confused state.

“Any firefighter, you sit, you react,” Capt. Napolitano said. “I don’t know anybody that could pass something like that. The last thing I want to see is somebody burn to death in a car.”

The driver has undergone two surgeries and will likely recover. The condition of the two other passengers remain unclear.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU