CAUGHT ON TAPE: Off-Duty Police Chief Saves Burning Motorist

WALTON HILLS, Ohio (WKYC) -- It really was one of those moments where that little voice in your head should tell you to stay away from the burning car, but once Chief Gary Rhines realized the driver was still in it, there was no waiting for backup.

Blacked out and inside his burning car, Charles Szabo was close to being killed. How close exactly? Walton Hills Police Chief Gary Rhines knows. He saved him.

"Had I been upon the scene a minute or 45 seconds later, he would not have survived the crash," Chief Rhines said.

So fierce was this fire that it singed the leaves in the trees 30 feet above the car, burnt the pavement below it, and melted everything inside, from the seats to the engine.

With no fire safety gear or even a fire extinguisher, Chief Rhines approached.

With the car fully engulfed in flames, he saw the victim lying across both seats and had to smash out the driver's side window to pull Szabo to safety.

"It was an intense moment. It's the first time I actually dealt with flames shooting through a dashboard while I'm inside the car," Chief Rhines said.

"He was unconcious, non-responsive, his feet hit the ground. I dragged him about 20 feet," Chief Rhines said.

Szabo had a four-inch gash in his head but came to shortly after the rescue.

Chief Rhines says the motorist smelled like alcohol and later found out Szabo was on his way home from a local tavern.

"Common sense would probably tell both people to stay away from the car. I didn't even think about it at the time," said Chief Rhines.

Camera images captured before the fire department arrived and minutes after Chief Rhines arrived, demonstrate just how fast and ferocious a car fire can spread.

When you look at them, it's hard to imagine someone inside surviving, much less someone outside reaching in to save them.

"It's just human nature.You're just worried about whether somebody is in there and what you need to do to get them out," Chief Rhines said.

Szabo remains in Akron General Hospital. Chief Rhines says the motorist was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to wear his seatbelt.

Police records indicate this is his second D.U.I. offense this year.

The first time, Szabo crashed his car into a tree less then a quarter mile from this accident.