Bodycam Video Shows Good Samaritans and Police Rescue Man from Burning Truck
Six of the officers reunited with the three men who helped rescue the driver.
— -- Newly released bodycam video reveals the heroic actions of first responders that battled billowing smoke and flames to rescue a man from his burning pickup truck after it collided with a school bus last Tuesday in North Carolina.
The video shows one man running toward the red pickup truck with a fire extinguisher as the man using the bodycam works to free the driver from inside the vehicle.
Winston-Salem police officers on the scene worked with good Samaritans to put out the flames and simultaneously attempt to evacuate the driver Terry McCarney safely.
After attempting to open the mangled driver's-side door and shattering the passenger side window, the officers and citizens worked frantically to stop the fire from spreading.
"It was extremely difficult to get that fire out," said Corporal James Gerald. "I ran out of the fire extinguisher and the fire kept coming back."
Leonard Rogers, one of the three good Samaritans that quickly jumped into action, grabbed a chain from his car and latched it on to the burning truck to pull it out from under the bus. Once he pulled the truck back it allowed space for rescuers and bystanders to pry open the driver side door.
"I don't feel as though I'm a hero," said Rogers. "I'm just an individual who happened to be at the right spot at the right time. The real heroes are the men and women who wear the badge," he added.
Two children on the bus were not injured in the accident.
Last night six of the seven officers reunited for the first time with the three men that assisted in McCarney's rescue.
Officer Stephen Everhart said, "They pitched in like they were one of us."
McCarney is currently hospitalized and recovering from non life-threatening injuries. His wife Stephanie told ABC News, "The selfless sacrifice of these people should help to restore faith in our fellow man."
The driver of the school bus resigned from his position following the accident, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District told ABC News in a statement. He was charged with a general safe movement violation.
