A Colony, Texas, police officer is being recognized as a hero after rescuing a man from a flaming automobile on Friday, July 19, according to new video footage and a news statement from The Colony Police Department.
An unidentified man was rescued from his flaming Tesla around 1:23 a.m. in the 5700 block of South Colony Boulevard near Highway 121. Officers received a report from witness Jersey Goldman, who told NBC 5 that he observed “a vehicle dropped in between the concrete barriers on each side.”
“I instantly called 911. “And while I’m on the phone with the Colony Police Department, a flame sparks beneath the front of the vehicle,” Goldman told the site.
The officials immediately proceeded to the flyover, where they discovered the electric vehicle wedged between the two dividing barriers.
Officer Edwardo Hernandez and first responders used extinguishers to try to put out the fire, but the automobile continued to burn, Hernandez told NBC 5. “I can see the car’s starting to fire up so I grab my fire extinguisher.”
“I noticed it was a Tesla, but I did not take into account right then and there that this was a battery, an electric vehicle,” Hernandez told the television station WFAA.
The officer, who has been with TCPD for 19 months, stated that he made “the decision that, at this point, this car’s on fire.” He decided to “go back there” and “try to get this driver out.”
“In my mind, I’m just thinking to myself, I’m not going to let this guy die on me,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez’s body camera footage shows him extracting the man from the vehicle. In the video, Hernandez went toward the blazing car wielding a Halligan tool, equivalent to a heavy pickaxe. He struck the window three times until it shattered, then cut the airbag. He then called out the driver, who informed the police that he was “okay.”
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“And at that point, I’m like, ‘Hey, come on, you got to get out, your car’s on fire,'” Hernandez told NBC Five. “He begins to extend his hands out the window. I grab him and begin to guide him out of the truck.”
Officers took the man away from the fiery wreckage after he was safely out. Minutes later, the automobile was in flames.
The driver was taken to a local hospital with injuries, but he eventually became awake and recovered. A different cop on the scene was brought to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and is expected to recover fully. Paramedics on the scene evaluated other cops and determined they were fit to return to duty.
Goldman added that without the cops’ assistance, “particularly Officer Hernandez,” the outcome could have been “insanely different.”
Hernandez told WFAA that if the officers had arrived “a little bit later, or had that person not been there to report the crash, it would probably have been a different outcome.”
His skills and religious faith helped him navigate the emergency response, he told NBC 5. “Through that, I was able to help this person, save his life, and be able to see another day,” Hernandez told me. “So for me, that makes me feel that I’ve made a difference, definitely in someone’s life.”
The Colony Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information on Wednesday.