Charles Parry was ready to fill up his tank when he saw another driver crash into a sign along Route 27 in Edison, New Jersey.
Without thinking twice, he jumped out of his car and ran toward the wreck.
Parry knew he had to act quickly as flames erupted from the hood of the crashed car.
Moments earlier, he'd seen the out-of-control SUV careen around the corner of the Costco gas station parking lot, jump the curb, hit the concrete foundation, and smash into a billboard near the intersection of Route 27 and Vineyard Road.
Parry was the first to reach the car, but the driver was trapped. He was able to get to the car before the flames started.
"As he was heading toward the side of the PetSmart wall, maybe from the jump it made him veer left and he just took a sharp left turn and went right toward the sign and hit the concrete foundation," Parry said.
The flames were so intense that they burned a billboard.
"It opened but he was strapped in, I was struggling with that seatbelt; that was my biggest fear," Parry said.
It was a scary moment trying to get the driver out.
"Smoke is hitting me and the flames coming out of the hood of the car because it was crunched up and you could see into the engine compartment," Parry said.
Parry never gave up and got the victim out before police and emergency personnel arrived.
Without his heroism, this could have been tragic.
Authorities say the driver suffered a medical emergency and lost control of his vehicle.
"It could have been somebody in my family and I would have hoped that somebody would have done that for them," Parry said.
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