R.I. man, Mass. trooper rescue 2 from burning car
A Rhode Island man and a state trooper rescued two men from a burning car Tuesday night on Route 495 in Raynham, authorities said today.
While driving home from work around 11:30 p.m., Stephen Jerome, of Tiverton, R.I., stopped to check on the occupants of a disabled car that had slid off the road and crashed into the side of a bridge. The driver, a 19-year-old man from Carver, and the passenger, a 21-year-old Middleborough man, were injured.
But while Jerome was on the phone with emergency services, the car ignited, State Police said.
He was dragging the driver out of the vehicle and away from the flames as off-duty State Police Sergeant Michael Popovics arrived. Before the fire spread from the engine to the rest of the car, the two men were able to rescue the passenger.
Both victims were taken to Rhode Island Hospital suffering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The fire was extinguished by the Raynham Fire Department.
Police said the two young men were returning from a snowboarding trip.
“The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but driver fatigue is being examined as a potential contributing factor,’’ State Police said in a statement today.
Neither Popovics nor Jerome were available for comment.
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