ROSEVILLE, Minn. — A motorist is hospitalized but lucky to be alive after they were pulled from a burning vehicle that ran off I-35W in Roseville Monday.
The Minnesota State Patrol says the driver left the interstate near County Road C just after 9 a.m. and struck a light pole. MnDOT cameras showed no signs of life from inside the vehicle as it started smoldering, with smoke pouring from the SUV by the time a good Samaritan arrived.
Soon a State Trooper pulled up to the scene, and then three more Samaritans. They ran up to the driver's side door of the vehicle as flames erupted from the engine department, making an urgent situation even more dire. MnDOT video captured what unfolded as the men struggled to pull the driver from the burning vehicle and drag them through the grass to a safer spot up on the shoulder.
The patrol says the driver, a 22-year-old man from Minneapolis, was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries described as non-life threatening.
Sgt. Vang Yang was the trooper who responded to the scene, having been on patrol in the area about a half-mile away. He used his baton to break open the vehicle's windows and then used a pocket knife to cut the driver's seatbelt.
"I would say another 10 or 20 seconds, that fire probably would have gotten to the driver. We pulled him out, and then get 10 to 15 yards away, and you can kind of see the car was going up," Sgt. Yang said. "It was pretty intense."
Terry Maynard, one of the Good Samaritans who helped rescue the driver, was also among the first people to respond to the scene. He was in the Roseville area on routine business and noticed the car up against the pole. At that point, he pulled over and ran toward the car, using a fire extinguisher to help blast the flames.
"Why did I go? Well, I went because I want to help, I want to help people, I want to be there," Maynard said. "And thank the Lord that there are others that are wired the same way. You get that group of people together, and you can perform miracles. You make it happen."
At this point it is unclear whether a medical situation caused that driver to leave the road or if something else was at play. The State Patrol will post additional details on its website as they become available.