Three Good Samaritans are being credited by authorities for saving the life of a man who was inside a burning car on Long Island.
Paul Gross, 53, of Mount Sinai, suffered some sort of medical emergency and crashed into a tree on Townline Road in Hauppauge just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to police. The car Gross was in instantly went up in flames.
Volunteer Fireman Stephen Matteo heard the crash from his home and he rushed to the scene to offer help. He flagged down a passing motorist, Edmund Quinones, to help pull Gross, who was unconscious, out of the vehicle, Suffolk County police said. The heat of the fire was so severe, Matteo’s watch had burned.
Matteo, 31, and Quinones, 57, provided medical care on the scene to help revive Gross. A third Good Samaritan, Briana Stettner, 19, of Hauppauge, also rushed to the scene and went into the intersection of Townline Road and Hoffman Lane and stopped traffic to allow emergency vehicles to get to the scene.
Paramedics transported Gross to an area hospital, where he is being treated for several non-life threatening injuries. Matteo and Quinones. who is from Ronkonkoma, were not injured, police said.
