Teacher helps disabled man out of burning van
— Music teacher Heather Sica-Leonard said she reacted out of instinct Thursday when she helped a man out of his burning van, an act firefighters say saved his life.
“I don’t know if my mind has really processed yet what could have happened had I not been able to act,” Sica-Leonard said in a phone interview Friday.
Sica-Leonard, 38, a teacher at Illchair, ing Middle School, was taking a different route home. The Brooklyn mother said she went to Interstate 384 about 3:15 p.m. because she had been nearby at Bennet Academy, talking to 6th graders who will be her orchestra students next year.
As she drove toward the entrance ramp, she saw smoke and a man hanging partially out of the van’s driver’s seat, she said. Thinking he was caught up in his seatbelt, she pulled over in front of the vehicle and went to ask if he needed help.
That’s when she noticed the flames under the passenger-side dashboard, Sica-Leonard said.
“He said, ‘I’m handicapped,’ ” and needed his wheelchair, she said. The van’s electronics stopped working, and his driver’s seat couldn’t swivel so he could get to his wheelchair behind him, she said.
So she slid open the van’s door, which brought a rush of air into the van and fanned the flames, she said.
“He asked, ‘Am I on fire?’ And I checked,” she said. The answer was no.
She grabbed the wheelMANCHESTER set it on the ground and held it while he lowered himself into it, she said.
“He was pretty capable of getting himself out of the driver’s seat into the wheelchair,” Sica-Leonard said.
Asked if she had second thoughts about being so close to the flames, she said, “I don’t think I had that thought. My thought was ‘I gotta get him out.’ ”
Other people stopped, too, she said. Some called 911, and one woman got a blanket for the man to keep him warm as he watched his van burn from a nearby sidewalk.
The man referred to SicaLeonard as an angel, she said. He told firefighters the only other step he could have taken to save himself would have been to open the door, drop to the ground and roll away, she said.
Firefighters were sure he would have died.
“Her actions averted an almost certain fatal outcome and prevented anyone from being injured,” fire officials said in a Facebook post. “She immediately stopped, approached the burning vehicle and selflessly got (the man) and his wheelchair out of the car and moved him to safety, all at great personal risk to injury.”
When firefighters arrived, the van was engulfed. The gas tank ruptured, causing gasoline to further feed the flames, firefighters said.
Firefighters said the man smelled smoke while driving south on Main. He then moved a cup holder to find the flames coming from the dashboard, they said in the Facebook post.
The Thursday evening post drew nearly 2,000 responses, more than 280 accolades and was shared some 275 times by Friday afternooon.
One writer called Sica-Leonard “a true hero.”
“While most would simply stand by and record with their phones, she jumped into action without regard for her own safety,” she said.
Sica-Leonard said she hasn’t thought about what would have happened if she went home a different way.
“I’m just happy that the stars aligned for it to happen the way it was supposed to.”