Good Samaritans Save Man From Burning Car
A group of good Samaritans pulled a man from his burning car in McCammon on Wednesday night, and police said they saved his life.
Police said Scott Mann, 48, from Pocatello was driving west on Highway 30 on the overpass above I-15 when he lost control and hit the Jersey barrier.
It happened right in front of Audra Kissel, and hers was the only car on the road.
“He had for some reason just veered and went right in front of me, and slammed into the concrete barrier, and the car was immediately on fire,” Kissel said.
She said she was thinking about her husband and her brother, who had both been in bad accidents before, and just acted.
“To tell you the truth, I was scared to death to open the door or what I might find,” she said.
Kissel opened the passenger side door and Mann nearly fell out of the car. Kissel caught him and held him up with the car door while she was on the phone with 911. That’s when she saw Aaaron Larson drive by and she waved him down.
“So I just thought, I had to get him out of there, so I just grabbed him, drug him what I thought was a safe distance from the car,” Larson said.
At first, Larson didn’t want to move Mann because he didn’t want to injure his spine.
“But the car’s on fire so it kind of throws that right out the window,” he said.
Larson said he was most worried about his girlfriend, who was in the car with him, and Kissel. She said she couldn’t have done it without them.
“It was dark out there and it was about midnight and just being alone I was scared to death, I was so thankful that those kids stopped. They were amazing,” Kissel said.
The thing is, Larson was only there because his friends kept him for an extra game of basketball at the McCammon LDS Stake Center. At the last second, he went out of his way to return the church key and it put him at the right place at the right time.
“I don’t know, it was just chance — fate,” Larson said.
Two other people, Karlee and Tyler Brown, also stopped. The Idaho State Police is considering honoring all four people for their efforts.
Police are still waiting for test results, but believe alcohol was involved.
