‘The backs of his shoes were gone’: King County deputy saves man from burning car

A man was pulled from a burning car by a King County deputy who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Washington State Department of Transportation cameras captured the aftermath Monday as first responders worked to save that man’s life.

The deputy was flagged down by a woman involved in the crash. It’s not clear how she got out of the car, but the deputy said he saw a couple of dozen cars pass her by before he stopped on Highway 18.

“I’ve seen horrific things, but burns are the worst to ever see and look at,” said King County Sheriff Sergeant Rich Barton.

Sgt. Barton said he drove along Highway 18 Monday morning near Maple Valley when he noticed brake lights and saw cars trying to avoid debris on the roadway. Then he noticed a woman waving franticly on the shoulder.

“Nobody stopped. I was the only one that stopped. Cars were dodging her,” said Sgt. Barton. “I could see she’s all bloody. She has road rash, is dirty, and is crying yelling.”

The woman pointed to the bottom of an about 40-foot embankment.

“I caught a glimpse of smoke and she goes ‘he’s still in there and it’s on fire,” Sgt. Barton said.

The Sergeant made his way down and found a man with the lower half of his body still in the fiery wreckage.

He was badly burned and still on fire.

“When I pulled up the backs of the shoes were gone. You could see the feet. You could see the burns on the backside of time. The hat was fused to his neck, the baseball hat because it was that hot,” he said. “I reached to grab him to help get him out, he was screaming and yelling. There was melted plastic on my fingers.”

The King County sergeant suffered second-degree burns with blisters on his hand. He then had to get the over 6-foot, 200-pound man up the steep hill as the fire exploded behind him.

“I was worried about the car exploding,” said Sgt. Barton. “It [the fire] was intensifying. I could feel it on my back because I was turning away from it. Then he’d roll back towards it and I’d feel it again.”

The deputy said after what felt like a lifetime, but in reality, was only about 5 minutes, other officers began arriving at the crash.

“We had just pulled him out they’re putting a blanket over him right there,” said Sgt. Barton. “He probably would have died.”

Sgt. Barton said he checked on the condition of both crash victims. They’re stable but the man has a long road to recovery ahead. Sgt. Barton also suffered some smoke inhalation on top of his burns, but he was back on patrol today.

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