The Briefing
- Around 3:52 a.m., a Jeep Cherokee rear-ended a van on Route 1 near Ridge Road in South Brunswick, N.J., before losing control and erupting in flames. Patch+2News 12 – Default+2
- A passerby and a patrol officer teamed up to pull the injured driver to safety just moments before the fire engulfed the vehicle. News 12 – Default+1
- The driver was transported to a hospital with a broken femur; no fire personnel were injured.
Early Morning Collision Becomes Life-Or-Death Rescue
In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, April 3, 2025, the quiet of a South Brunswick stretch of Route 1 was shattered when a 52-year-old man in a Jeep crashed into a van, lost control, and came to rest before his vehicle caught fire. Witnesses say the collision happened just after 3:50 a.m. near the intersection of Ridge Road. Patch+1
The driver managed to exit the wreck initially, but a leg injury prevented him from getting far as the rear of his vehicle began to erupt in flames. That’s when passerby Haseeb Mehmood, on his way to visit family, entered the scene. “It was very clear to me that he was not going to be able to move that leg, so we were going to have to move him,” Mehmood told News 12. News 12 – Default
South Brunswick Police Officer Daniel Stoddard arrived moments later and immediately joined the rescue effort. Together, the two moved the injured driver a safe distance away just as the flames surged upward. Stoddard later praised the bystander’s courage, noting how quickly the fire spread. News 12 – Default
Lessons for Fire & EMS Teams
This incident offers several key operational takeaways for fire, EMS, and law enforcement professionals:
- Rapid fire escalation: A collision involving a vehicle can turn into a fully involved fire in seconds. Positioning, egress routes, and early intervention must be top priorities.
- Multi-disaster awareness: Responding units arriving at a crash scene may need to shift immediately into fire-suppression or rescue roles.
- Bystander role: Trained civilians and officers acted in tandem here—demonstrating how public readiness and swift first response save lives.
- Inter-agency coordination: EMS, fire-rescue, and law enforcement all play vital roles in incidents that cross discipline lines; training and protocols must reflect that overlap.
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