Screenshot

HUGHESVILLE – Borough Fire Chief Daniel Dorman and another man are credited with pulling an injured 17-year boy from an SUV that caught fire minutes after the youth crashed into a tree on Saturday afternoon along Beaver Lake Road in Penn Township.

Dorman and his wife, Brenda, both trained emergency medical technicians, arrived on the scene in 4000 block of Beaver Lake just minutes after the crash was reported at 12:50 p.m. The couple live less than a half a mile from the crash.

“There already were a lot of bystanders when I arrived. A woman told me that it looked like there was a fire underneath the car,” the fire chief said.

“The injured driver was still in the vehicle. It was reported that he was unresponsive, but he was coming around,” Dorman said. A small fire had started in the engine compartment.

Despite the heavy damage to the vehicle, “I was still able to open the driver’s door. I summoned a bystander to help me get the driver out,” Dorman said. He did not know the man’s identity.

The teen’s feet were “briefly entangled” under the dashboard, but within two to three minutes, the two men were able to pull the driver to safety, Dorman said.

Once the driver was out, Brenda Dorman began to further assess the boy’s injuries. He was kept warm, wrapped in blankets that were provided by one of the bystanders.

The teen was loaded into an ambulance that took him to UPMC Williamport while borough firefighters quickly put out the fire. Picture Rocks firefighters assisted at the scene.

There was no word Sunday on the boy’s medical condition.

“We didn’t do anything special other than what we are trained to do,” Dorman said Sunday.

State police at the Montoursville barracks were leading the investigation into the crash, but had no details to off as of Sunday.