RESCUE FROM FIRE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31771, 30 August 1968, Page 1

RESCUE FROM FIRE

A 21 - year - old Canterbury University engineering student last evening rescued a driver from a blazing car which was upside down in Gloucester Street.

Two cars collided at the intersection of Gloucester Street and Barbadoes Street, and petrol spilling from the one that capsized burst into flames.

“I heard a bang, looked down the street and saw a ball of fire,” said the student, who declined to give his name.

“I ran down the road. I could see a man in the back of the car. I picked up a bar from the smashed roof rack of the car. The man inside was lit up by the flames. He was scrabbling at the door. “I waved the bar and shouted at him, then ran in, crouched, and smashed the rear door window in. A young man and a boy in a passing car helped me to pull the man out of the car. He was dazed and had a shoulder hurt The other man who helped me got a bit of glass in his hand. “I don’t think the man in the car was cut It was pretty hot, and we didn’t waste much time,” the student said.

The Injured man, who was the driver and sole occupant of the car, is Mr E. J. Swanston, of 110 Richardson Terrace, Opawa. He was taken to the Christchurch Hospital in a St John ambulance for treatment. Firemen from the Headquarters station put out the blazing petrol with foam and fine water sprays. The car, with blistered paint, was righted by firemen and towtruck drivers. Nobody was injured in the other car involved in the collision, although it also had to be towed away. The collision occurred at 8.35 p.m.