Moment truck explodes in fireball seconds after cops drag out driver who suffered medical emergency

Heart stopping video footage shows two heroic cops drag a man from his burning truck seconds before it exploded into a huge fireball.   

The incident began on Monday, when the unnamed driver of the Dodge Ram suffered a medical emergency while behind the wheel outside an apartment complex in Austin, Texas. 

He was unable to take his foot off the truck’s accelerator pedal, with its tires catching fire, and flames quickly engulfing the vehicle.  

Austin Police Department Officers Chandler Carrera and Eddie Pineda arrived on the scene, and began trying to free the driver from his truck, while a frightened woman filmed from a short distance away.  

According to the Austin American-Statesman, a man near the truck yelled, ‘He’s in there! He’s still in there! He’s in there,’ which may have alerted the officers to the trapped driver. 

The video begins with the person behind the camera panting before focusing it on the burning truck, where an officer is banging on the driver’s side window with his baton.

The back of the truck and right side of the vehicle are engulfed in flames.

The officer manages to get the window open and unlocks the door from the inside, opening it up.

Another officer then appears, trying to put out the fire from the back.

Officers Carrera Pineda – then began working together to pull the sick man out of his truck, and managed to get 30 feet away before it exploded. 

Seconds later, a bang can be heard and the rest of the truck appears to go up in flames.

The Austin Fire Department then appears on the scene as another loud explosion is heard and neighbors can be heard shouting and seen watching the incident.

The video ends with several members of the fire department working to put out the flames on the burning vehicle.

The driver, who has not been identified, was taken by EMS to the hospital with ‘serious, potentially life-threatening smoke inhalation injuries’ the Austin Fire Department said.

‘We salute our brothers in blue for their heroic and selfless actions during this incident,’ they added.

A picture posted on Twitter by the fire department afterwards showed the burnt out remains of the decimated truck. 

Tony Farmer, who lives next to the apartments, witnessed the whole incident after hearing one of the loud bangs from the truck.

‘I was just chillin’ inside and I heard a loud bang, kind of like when the [trash truck] comes and slams the dumpster onto the ground when they’re done emptying it or a transformer [exploding],’ Farmer told the Statesman.

‘Then the second time it happened, I was like, ‘Woah, that’s a little weird,” Farmer added.

Farmer described the truck explosion as an almost cinematic experience.

‘It exploded a little bit, almost like in the movies, not like a huge explosion like atomic, but it engulfed more about 20 seconds after [the man] was removed from the vehicle,’ Farmer continued.

He added that he believed the police officers involved in the man’s rescue are heroes.

‘Those cops…there’s no doubt about it – they risked their lives and they’re heroes. There’s no doubt about it,’ Farmer said. 

Assistant Chief of the Austin Police Department Robin Henderson agreed and later took to Twitter to congratulate the officers and give them a token for their heroics.

‘Officers Pineda and Carrera received a chief’s coin of recognition for their heroic actions yesterday, in saving a man’s life from the vehicle fire,’ Henderson tweeted. ‘Please join me in recognizing these two for their quick-thinking and bravery! #OneAustinSaferTogether’

According to the Patch, Joseph Chacon, police chief, also commended the officers for their bravery. 

‘Despite the danger, they rushed in and saved a man’s life,’ Chacon said. ‘These are the guardians of our community. Thank you, officers Pineda and Carrera!’ 

As of Wednesday morning, the condition of the injured man was not known. A press conference with further information is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.