VIDEO: Washington Officer Rescues Woman from Burning Car
Spokane, WA, Police Officer Tim Schwering was first on scene to a vehicle fire where a woman, Kim Novak, was trapped inside Friday.
Novak told KREM she was driving home from the grocery store in her 2012 Chevy Malibu when she hit frozen slush in the road and it made a little bump. Then, the engine and lights shut off. Everything went pitch black and her car eventually came to a stop. Novak said she tried to start the car again with no luck. She then tried to get out of the car but because of the power locks, she was stuck.
She was on the phone with 911 when she started to see flames in front of the windshield that were at least a foot high. The dispatcher told her to try to break out the window.
"I got on my back and started kicking the windows with both of my feet with all my might. I kicked and kicked and I didn't even make a crack," she said.
Then, Officer Schwering showed up. He told her it was going to be ok and he was going to get her out of there.
“When I got there, there was the car in the middle of the road that was engulfed in flames, the front end was engulfed in flames. There was a woman in the backseat,” Schwering said.
Once Novak said she could not get her door open through a window, Officer Schwering took out his baton and started beating on the window of the door.
“It was starting to get a little warmer and the smoke was really coming into the cabin so I just basically ripped the glass off with my hands and instructed her to start moving,” said Schwering. He finally made a hole big enough in the window to get Novak out of the car.
