Motorcyclist Saved From Burning

[Mika]

This AM in the morning commute the traffic cams show a fire. It is a biker who's bike caught on fire. He was resuced by passer bys and two para medics returning from an unrelated run.

Bike fire (http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=16496@wcco.dayport.com)

[Braddog]

A passing motorist put the guy's leg out (the one that was on fire) with his shirt, and used his SUV to block traffic.

The truck driver that rear-ended the cyclist was cited for "care required" or somesuch. I'm thinking the company's insurance company will be paying quite a bit, depending on how the guy recovers. The news said the victim was in fair condition in the hospital.

Man, it was fortunate that the ambulance was that close.

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

Good that the guy is okay, it would be interested in why it burst into flames on a rear hit though. Auxiliary fuel tank, recall BMW with leaky fuel line? Very curious.

[Mika]

RESCUE042906

Last update: April 29, 2006 – 12:26 AM

Quick response rescues biker from fire
Flames shot out from under a truck that struck a motorcycle. A man on fire who emerged was saved by four men, including two paramedics.
Curt Brown and Howie Padilla, Star Tribune

Coon Rapids meat salesman John Elwell literally gave the shirt off his back Friday morning and just might have saved the life of a burning motorcyclist.
Elwell, 38, was driving north over the Lafayette Bridge in St. Paul when the cargo truck in front of him stopped short. He felt the bridge sway from the impact of a four-vehicle crash.

"I look under the truck and see a fire and think to myself, the truck's engine is on fire," he said.

So he hopped out of his Navigator "to see if everything was OK."

It wasn't.

"I was shocked to see a guy crawl out of the smoke, with his right pant leg on fire, screaming 'Help! Help!' " Elwell said.

His whole motorcycle "had just exploded," said Elwell, who raced up, took off his dress shirt and smothered the fire on Kevin Heil's leg. Along with the truck driver, 69-year-old Curtis Quinn, Elwell dragged Heil away from the heat of the blazing bike.

A few vehicles back on the bridge, stalled in the traffic jam, HealthEast paramedic Scott Winter said he and partner Matt Nielsen just happened to be "in the right place at the right time."

Within a minute, Winter and Nielsen used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames, got Heil on a stretcher, put him in their ambulance and took him to Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

Heil, 49, of St. Paul, was listed in fair condition; he wasn't wearing a helmet.

"Honest to God, I'm shocked that the guy is doing so well," said Elwell, who credited the paramedics for their quick work.

They, in turn, thanked Elwell and Quinn, who had rear-ended Heil and was cited for failing to use due care while driving.

"If it wasn't for the other people there, if they hadn't helped, that guy would have died," Winter said.

Added Nielsen: "We're trained to do this. It's our job. It's not theirs."


curt.brown@startribune.com • 651-298-1542 hpadilla@startribune.com • 651-298-1551

©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

[jerryb]

This AM in the morning commute the traffic cams show a fire. It is a biker who's bike caught on fire. He was resuced by passer bys and two para medics returning from an unrelated run.

Bike fire (http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=16496@wcco.dayport.com)

In my experience if you get a gas leak while the bike is moving you likely will not smell it or catch fire until you stop. If you catch the fire very soon with somehting to smother it (jacket, etc.) you can save your bike with little risk. Again, in my experience the gas cap will blow out before the tank ruptures in your face.

jerryb