Wolverhampton rescuers hailed after girl, four, pulled from blazing car

Oct 20 2009 by Jasbir Authi, Birmingham Post

Factory workers and a person who rescued a child from a burning car were yesterday hailed as “heroic”.

The four-year-old girl was pulled from the car after it was in a collision with an environmental services lorry and burst into flames at about 3.40pm on Vulcan Road, Bilston East, Wolverhampton.

Nearby factory workers tackled the fire using a dry powder fire extinguisher while a member of the public pulled the little girl to safety.

West Midlands Fire crews used three sets of hydraulic cutting equipment to release the woman driver, believed to be in her 20s, from the burning wreckage.

Both casualties were taken to separate hospitals by Staffordshire and Cosford air ambulances. The injured woman was flown to Selly Oak Hospital where her condition was said to be life threatening on arrival. The girl was treated at the scene for arm, shoulder and head injuries, before she was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

A West Midlands Fire spokesman said: “Although we would not encourage snatch rescues of injured parties in road traffic collisions as it can exacerbate the injuries, in this case which was a fire situation, it may well have been a heroic move.”