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Feb 19, 2008 9:54 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Officers Pull Man From Burning Car
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
A man is alive tonight thanks to two Fort Worth officers, who risked their own lives to pull him from a burning vehicle.
The young officers have been with the force for two years. They say someone was definitely watching out for them that night.
The incident happened on February 11 around 1:30 a.m. Two officers arrived first on the scene and approached a fiery wreck.
Moments later, three people emerged from the flames.
"It went really really fast. It was literally right on us," said Officer Victor Tapia.
"I'm kinda waiting back, thinking it's like a movie. It's gonna blow up on us," said Officer Adam Coleman.
The driver, Cain Gonzalez was knocked unconscious after running into a concrete barrier on I-35.
"I remember reaching in, grabbing his foot. I could see it was stuck. The fire was only an inch from my hand," said Coleman.
"We realized, 'Hey - he's caught in the seat belt.' So I reached in, grabbed my knife and started cutting the seat belt," said Tapia. "I finally freed him up enough to get him loose, carried him out of the car before it went into flames. The whole compartment went into flames."
Coleman's pregnant wife had been reading about fallen officers that day. She had a feeling her husband would need extra protection.
"That God would protect him, put angels around him and hedge of protection around him," said Amanda Coleman, the officer's wife. "It turns out this happened later that night."
She said watching the men walk out of the flames unscathed reminded her of "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walking out of the fire."
"It's all to His glory we got him out of there," said Coleman.
"Somebody was definitely looking over him and us," said Tapia.
Gonzalez was released from the hospital after three days and is doing okay.
The officers are expected to be nominated for a life saving award.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
