Fire chief rescues man from burning car
Fire Chief Nate Tracey rescued a man from a burning vehicle Monday on Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township
What volunteer Fire Chief Nate Tracey did Monday morning was what any trained rescue worker would have done, he said. He just happened to be the first one there.
The call came in as a crash with unknown injuries. It was in the first block of Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township and Tracey's department, Goodwill Fire Company, was the first one assigned to the incident.
Then, it was upgraded to a crash with entrapment, he said.
When Tracey, a 27-year firefighting veteran, arrived at the 10:30 a.m. crash, the front of the car was crumpled from striking a utility pole and its back end was engulfed in flames.
One of the bystanders, a construction worker, had emptied her fire extinguisher on the blaze, but the fire still raged.
"I scanned the whole area, thinking, 'Where's the patient at?'" Tracey said.
He didn't see anyone on the ground near the vehicle, so he knew the victim was still inside the smoking car.
Firefighters are trained to put on all of their gear before a rescue, but Tracey just grabbed his coat, thinking he would cover up the victim's face and upper body to shield him from the fire.
With that fire going, it could reach the gas tank and trigger an explosion, Tracey said. He didn't have a lot of time to jump into all his gear.
Opening the vehicle door, Tracey could see the man's feet. Then, once the smoke cleared, he could tell the man was not entangled in the vehicle's wreckage.
"I leaned in and just pulled him out," Tracey said. "That's the standard fire service drag ... The adrenaline certainly helped."
Goodwill Lt. Matt Leonard said firefighters train on rescues like this one. But the crash Monday morning was only the second time he's ever seen such a rescue.
"I've been in the fire service for 14 years, and I can only ever remember two times when I was on the scene for an mva (motor vehicle accident) with entrapment and fire," Leonard said. "This was a true life emergency."
And while firefighters train to do what Tracey did, it isn't easy work, Leonard said.
"Personally, I've never had to make a rescue in a situation like that," Leonard said. "But your average 180 pound person, when they're dead weight, it's a tremendous amount of weight. I've done it in training and it's difficult."
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A video posted on Facebook shows Tracey, his arms hooked under the man's armpits, dragging the man across the road, away from the burning vehicle. Goodwill firefighters soon arrived on a rescue truck and doused the fire with three extinguishers, Tracey said.
The driver, identified by York Area Regional Police as Greg Fabie, of York, was listed in satisfactory condition at York Hospital on Monday afternoon. He remained in the hospital Tuesday.
In addition to suffering from smoke inhalation, Fabie suffered head injuries from possibly striking his head on the windshield, Tracey said.
Police continue to investigate the crash, according to York Area Sgt. Peter Montgomery.
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More about Nate Tracey
A 27-year firefighting veteran, Tracey started his career in 1988 and joined Goodwill in 1994. He is now a volunteer chief there. He has also worked as a paid firefighter for Manchester Township Fire Department, now run by York Area United Fire and Rescue, since 2002.
Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033.
York Daily Record investigative reporter Brandie Kessler also contributed to this report.