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A trip to Florida’s west coast suddenly became a working vacation for a local firefighter.
Dave Terrana, who has been with Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue for 13 years,
was driving to Venice Beach July 5 with his wife and two children. They were on State Road 70 near Lake Placid when the car behind them suddenly veered off the road, slammed into a concrete pole and burst into flames.
Terrana pulled over and ran to the car.
“I saw one guy,” Terrana said. “I opened the door. At this point, the whole front part of the hood, the engine compartment, was in flames. I told the guy, ‘You need to get out. You need to move.’ He said he couldn’t move. His right leg was pinned. His right leg was hurt.”
Terrana said he was able to adjust the seat to free the man’s leg but the flames were spreading into the passenger area.
“I grabbed his belt and I went to pull him,” Terrana told WPBF 25 News. “He said, ‘My leg hurts really bad.’ I said, ‘Well, we’ve got bigger problems than your leg hurting. We need to get you out of the car.’ Probably about 30 or 45 seconds after we got him away from the car or out of the car, the whole passenger compartment was smoke and flames.”
Terrana said local paramedics soon showed up and the man was flown to the hospital. He had several broken bones and a gash on his head but he is expected to recover.
Terrana said it was not the first life he’s saved. He said running to the burning car was the only choice he had.
“I honestly didn’t even really think about the car being on fire and me getting burned,” Terrana said. “I just realized there was a human being in there that definitely needed help.”
