In an action that a local fire chief called “heroic,” Ralph Gilles, Fiat Chrysler’s Global Head of Design, used his Jeep Wrangler’s bumper to push a burning Ford Edge away from a crashed Ford Fiesta and its trapped occupants, having arrived first at the scene of what was to become a fatal car crash in suburban Detroit, local newspaper Oxford Leader reports.
Seeing the “tall flames coming from the Edge’s engine compartment” and concerned the Fiesta, which was now touching the burning vehicle, would also catch fire while the couple was trapped inside, the quick-thinking Gilles used his Wrangler to “push the Edge to the opposite shoulder, away from the other two vehicles.”
“I still have no idea where that (thought) came from,” Gilles told this reporter. “The only thing I can remember thinking (is) I’ve got a Jeep, it’s got a bumper on it, I think I can do this. All I could think about were the two people still inside the other car.”
“I figured the fire department would take a while to get there . . . at that time of day. I had to do something fast,” he continued.
“I give the Jeep a lot of credit because had I been in my (Dodge) Challenger, I wouldn’t have had the traction to do it,” Gilles noted. “Luckily, we had the Jeep that night. I put it in four-wheel drive and it worked perfectly.”
The fire didn’t surprise Gilles because prior to it, he could smell “a variety of (auto) fluids” and thought “this thing is a Roman candle waiting to happen.”
Addison Fire Chief Jerry Morawski said they had the couple out of the vehicle within 22 minutes of arriving at the scene.
Addison firefighters transported Considine to Ascension-Crittenton Hospital in Rochester Hills. From there, she was airlifted to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital for further treatment and that’s where she passed away just hours later.
Oxford firefighters transported her husband to McLaren Oakland hospital in downtown Pontiac where he was listed in stable condition.
The driver of the LaSabre sustained minor injuries.
Gilles was praised for his actions by Morawski. “That guy did a pretty heroic thing,” the chief said. “I think the guy did a great job . . . (If he hadn’t taken action,) it could have been worse.”
Read the whole story here:
One dead in crash: ?Alcohol appears to be a factor? | Oxford Leader
