Woman Risks Life to Save Another
Flames burned a driver who struck a power substation in New Britain.
A woman saw a car crash into a power substation and burst into flames in New Britain. That's when she jumped into action.
A New Britain woman put her life on the line and helped save a driver from a fiery explosion on Sunday night.
Kerie Breau spoke exclusively with NBC Connecticut and shared her frightening ordeal.
Breau saw the driver lose control, then heard a big explosion when the car slammed into a power substation near Farmington Avenue and Allen Street.
“Airborne, I mean airborne. He probably could have jumped over our car it was that high,” Breau said.
Flames shot into the air and thick, heavy smoke billowed.
Breau called 911 and ran to help.
“I had to make sure he wasn't trapped in the vehicle,” she said.
The driver had just crawled out of the car.
“It was awful. I’ve never seen anyone burn like that before. He was on fire,” Breau said.
She told him to roll on the ground, hoping this would put out the flames, but it didn’t work.
“The flames were actually shooting up his neck and not burning his face, but over his face and then we heard sirens,” Breau said.
Breau said the ambulance showed up just in time, because after it left, she heard a few more explosions and the fiery scene got even more intense.
“At that point I didn’t know if something else was going to burn,” Breau said.
She admitted she did not realize how dangerous the situation was when she got involved. Her instincts just kicked in.
"If that was me down there, I would hope someone would have done that for me,” she said
Police did not release the driver's name on Tuesday or the cause of the crash.
Breau told NBC Connecticut she checked in at Bridgeport Hospital, where the driver was taken and was told he was in critical condition.
