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The Chevrolet SUV was heading south when he struck a Peterbilt tractor-trailer parked on the right shoulder at 4:20 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Charles Marchan said.
"While Mahwah units were responding, dispatch updated that they were receiving additional 9-1-1 calls that the driver was still inside the burning vehicle and that witnesses were unable to extricate the driver," Mahwah Police Capt. Guido Bussinelli said. " When Mahwah police officers arrived on scene, they found the unconscious driver still trapped in the vehicle with the flames spreading into the passenger compartment."
Officer Chris Lupo was the first one to arrive. He pulled up and grabbed his fire extinguisher just as Lt. Michael Blondin was arriving.
Blondin, a volunteer firefighter in Mahwah and former fire chief in West Milford, ran with Lupo toward the burning car.
Blondin's bodycam footage captures him rushing to the vehicle and, with help from Lupo, pulling the unresponsive driver from the car.
Moments later, the car was engulfed in flames.
The officers administered first aid to the Pearl River driver, as officers Connor Gilgen, Ryan Moore and Christopher Minchin deployed their fire extinguishers onto the fire before joining Lupo and Blondin.
The fire eventually spread to the contents of the tractor-trailer — a load of lumber. Mahwah Fire Department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. Mahwah EMS and Valley Hospital Paramedics arrived and continued patient care.
The victim was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
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