Madison police officer, passerby rescue person from car fire

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A Madison police officer rescued a person from a car on fire with the help of a nearby citizen early Saturday morning.

Around 4 a.m, police were dispatched to a Walgreens at the 2900 block of East Washington Avenue after receiving a report of a person slumped in a car. Police were told the car was smoking, and possibly on fire.

As a MPD officer approached the scene, police say all of East Washington Avenue was covered in smoke from the hood of the car. After realizing the doors of the car were locked and the person was was unable to get out on their own, the officer broke a car window.

The officer then reached in the car and unbuckled the person’s seat-belt as flames started to come out of the dashboard.

The officer and nearby citizen were able to pull the driver out of the car to safety before the car became fully engulfed. Police say the car went up in flames just seconds after the driver was removed.

Madison Fire Department put the fire out and the driver was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

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