NH state trooper talks about burning car rescue

BEDFORD, N.H. (WHDH) -- A car engulfed in flames would have driven most people to safer ground, but it sent Trooper Scott Frye leaping into action.

“The car was on fire. The explosions -- I don’t really think they were explosions. They were the tires popping because of the heat,” New Hampshire State Trooper Scott Frye said. “I just knew that we couldn’t let the guy die. He’d be burned alive, and I couldn’t let myself do that.”

The New Hampshire state trooper was on duty escorting Governor John Lynch and his wife on Interstate 93 North in Andover Sunday when they spotted a car ablaze, the driver trapped inside.

With the help of an off-duty Manchester firefighter, they tried pulling the driver out of the burning car. But it wasn't until Trooper Frye jumped into the car to move the driver's seat back an inch were they able to finally free him.

“I jumped in through the window on top of the guy to try to search for the seat lever, found the seat lever, pushed the seat back, and coming out, I just kind of twisted his leg a bit. And apparently that was enough and we tugged him right over the dash and right out the window,” Trooper Frye said.

Investigators say the wreck was the result of a road rage incident, and quick-thinking and fearless action saved a man's life.

But Trooper Frye says it was just instincts, and that it was a team effort.