Officers rescue man from burning food truck in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Police officers were recognized for their heroism after rescuing a man Monday from a burning truck moments before it exploded.

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Austin Police officers Eduardo Pineda and Chandler Carrera responded to a call about an unconscious man with his foot on the gas pedal of a burning food truck, KEYE reported.

Carrera used a fire extinguisher while Pineda broke a window to open a door and both officers dragged out the unresponsive driver. The truck exploded moments later.

“As I was running up to the vehicle, one of the citizens started yelling out that he was still in the car‚” Pineda said. “I tried to look inside the window, but there was too much smoke. I couldn’t see anything. I ran up to the driver’s side door. I tried opening it, but it was locked. So, at that point, I just got my ASP and broke the window down in order to be able to look inside. Once I broke the window down, I saw the individual inside and went from there.”

Carrera added:

“My original plan was to use the fire extinguisher as (Pineda) pulled him out to try to avoid anyone from being hurt, but it came apparent that he was a pretty big guy and he may be stuck in the vehicle. So, I just dropped it and pulled him out from there.”

The driver was taken to a hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.

Investigators said the man suffered a medical emergency leading to the truck catching on fire, KXAN reported.

Austin Fire Department crews arrived and put out the flames before they were able to expand.

Two hours later, Pineda and Carrera saved another life. They responded to a shooting call and placed a tourniquet on the chest of the wounded victim.

They were honored Wednesday.

“We really weren’t thinking much. We just showed up and saw what was going on, and then just reacted based on our training,” Pineda said Wednesday. “It feels good (to be recognized), but we don’t consider ourselves heroes. We’re just police officers. That’s our job. We’re here to help people. That’s why we became police officers.”

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