Police dispatcher helps save driver in burning car in Holtsville

HOLTSVILLE, Long Island (WABC) -- An off-duty dispatcher on Long Island is being hailed as a hero, credited with helping save a man from a burning car.

The driver was trapped on the Long Island Expressway near Holtsville when the Suffolk County dispatcher and two others stopped to help.

"I went in through the back door, we were unable to get him out," said dispatcher Christopher Sabella. "We started to keep the fire at bay with extinguishers, we used about five or six extinguishers to keep the fire at bay until the fire department finally showed up and was able to put the fire out."

It took about 25 minutes for emergency crews to cut the driver out of the vehicle.

He was taken to the hospital but is expected to survive.