Watch Two PPD Officers' Dramatic Rescue Of A Man In A Burning SUV

Phoenix AZ

28 January, 2022

12:05 PM

Description

PHOENIX, AZ —Phoenix Police Department officers Rachel Fernandez and Jessica Hunting were guests at a news conference Thursday, one day after the pair —with the help of a few civilians—pulled an unconscious man from a burning SUV after a rollover traffic accident in north Phoenix. The man sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to the PPD, and the dramatic scenes were captured on officer body-camera footage, which the PPD posted on Twitter. "Just doing my job. I don't think I come anywhere close to being a hero" said Hunting when asked about how she should be celebrated after the rescue. "Every morning when I wake up, I put on the uniform and put on the badge and think to myself 'I'm just another police officer out there doing my job.' Never, ever once will I think I'm a hero." The crash occurred near 31st Avenue and Thunderbird Road when the SUV collided with a power pole and overturned, according to police. The accident remains under investigation. Fernandez told reporters that when she got to the vehicle, she quickly realized the importance of extricating the victim from the SUV quickly. "I was just like 'I need to get them out now,' because the flames that were on the vehicle kept getting bigger, and we only had one little fire extinguisher to mitigate it at that point," Fernandez said. Hunting said she only was thinking about the victim. "You don't know if the fire is going to increase, not increase, explode, not explode. At that point, it was just more like he was my main concern ... who cares what happens to me ... he's my main priority," Hunting said. Hunting said that she initially tried to wake the man up with a sternum rub. He eventually did regain consciousness and started moaning. At that point, Hunting pulled the man to safety. Then, along with Fernandez and two civilians, they carried the victim away from the blaze. For the officers, the rescue was all in a day's work. "We're going to get it done, make sure everybody else is good. Pretty much clean up everything else and then if the next call is the same, we're just going to do it right all over again," Fernandez said.