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(CBSNewYork) – An off-duty Suffolk County police officer and off-duty volunteer firefighter saved a woman’s life after her vehicle flipped over and caught fire on the Long Island Expressway Wednesday.
The wreck happened at around 10:50 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the LIE near exit 60.
Melissa Ortiz’s Ford Expedition crashed with a National Grid vehicle. Ortiz’s vehicle flipped over and caught fire.
As CBS2’s Andrea Grymes reported, the raging flames engulfed the overturned car as it sat on the LIE.
Suffolk County police officer Thomas Mutarelli, who was in uniform but off-duty, and Jeffrey Dupoux, a volunteer firefighter with the Elmont Fire Department, stopped to help make a rescue.
There wasn’t much time, said Mutarelli.
“She was trapped inside and someone from outside said the vehicle was on fire. We had no time to put the fire out,” Mutarelli said. “If we weren’t there, we don’t know what would have happened.
“As we were pulling her out, it started to grow, so it was basically on fire when we arrived on scene,” said Dupoux.
