Off-Duty NY Firefighter Describes Rescuing Injured Woman From Burning Car in Brookfield

An off-duty New York firefighter who rescued an injured woman from a burning car after a crash in Brookfield on Saturday is describing the life-saving rescue.

After his shift with the White Plains Fire Department, Nicholas Perri Jr. was on his way home in Brookfield, Connecticut, when he spotted a raging car fire a few feet off the road on Route 7 north around 3:15 a.m.

"Instinct, training kicked in and ran in and did the best I could do to get her out," Perri said Saturday, hours after the life-saving rescue.

Without gear or a hose line, Perri gained access to the vehicle and removed the badly injured female driver as flames were entering the passenger compartment, investigators said.

"I assessed how she was in there and then I broke the front passenger window. I was able to get one of her legs free, the other was pretty mangled -- it was giving me a hard time," Perri said. "I was just yelling, 'You got to work with me because we are running out of time here.'"

EMS and Brookfield volunteer firefighters made it to the scene moments later. As they arrived, dashcam video shows Perri guiding the badly injured driver out of the car engulfed in flames.

Perri carried the woman to EMS where she was treated and transported to Danbury Hospital.

He was treated on scene for minor injuries and refused to be transported.