Battalion chief rescues man twice from burning car

By FireRescue1 Staff

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. — An off-duty battalion chief saved a man from a burning car twice.

WJLA reported that Prince George's County Fire-EMS Department Battalion Chief Donald Fletcher was on his way home from work when he came across a car engulfed in flames.

“I noticed a ball of fire, what I assumed at the time was a house on fire,” Fletcher said. “The driver’s side window was down, smoke was billowing out of it.”

Fletcher rushed to the vehicle and found a man, Dillon Haneke, inside.

“When I reached in … I felt an arm,” Fletcher said. “So I unlocked the door … and found an unconscious male.”

Fletcher pulled Haneke to safety, but he said the man jumped up moments later and ran back into the car. 

“He went back into the vehicle,” he said. “He shut the door and locked it. I went back up to the vehicle, approached it, unlocked the door … and removed him from the vehicle.”

Police said they believe Haneke was under the influence of drugs.