Rescuers drag injured woman to safety
GRAPHIC CONTENT: Neighbours raced towards a car engulfed in flames to save a woman on fire on the ground.
The woman was taken to hospital in critical condition after the car fire in a driveway in Bayside Ave, Te Atatu¯ on Monday morning.
A nearby neighbour was out the back of his house putting some rubbish out when he heard an explosion about 7.45am.
He joined another man who had jumped a fence to see what was going on.
They found a woman on fire, lying down right next to the burning car, he said.
‘‘We kept on trying to go to her assistance but the car was pretty much fully engulfed in flames,’’ he said.
‘‘I actually thought she had passed away at that point because her injuries were so bad. She wasn’t breathing.
‘‘As soon as we saw the flames we were yelling out to wives and neighbours to get the fire brigade on the phone, and the ambulance of course.’’
The neighbour said he then helped to keep people away from the burning car.
‘‘Windows were popping, and things were sparking and it was making lots of noises like it could explode.
‘‘Then at some point we saw her start to move so we realised she was alive.’’
A group of about four or five guys dragged her away from the
‘‘Windows were popping, and things were sparking and it was making lots of noises like it could explode.’’
car, he said. After she was clear of the vehicle they got to work attending to her injuries until help arrived.
‘‘We got some sheets and towels and doused hem in water and got them over her. She was pretty much naked; the clothes had burned off her.’’
One of the rescuers was a nurse and they got the woman into the recovery position, he said. ‘‘At about that time the fire brigade and ambulance arrived.
‘‘It seemed like an age - but the fire brigade in particular, I think they did really well to get there given the traffic.’’
The neighbour said the woman was alive when she was taken into the ambulance.
‘‘It was very distressing. It was certainly not a nice way to wake up on a Monday morning.’’
Police confirmed one person was taken to Auckland Hospital with critical injuries.