By Ryan Haggerty
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A group of people including two off-duty firefighters and an off-duty police lieutenant rescued a woman and her two children from a burning SUV that crashed on Milwaukee’s south side Sunday afternoon.
Most of the rescue was filmed by a bystander. The video shows the 1992 Chevrolet Blazer on its left side near S. 22nd Place and W. Layton Ave., its back half engulfed in flames and black smoke.
Two men eventually use metal pipes to break through the windshield, freeing the woman, who is a 32-year-old Tennessee resident, and her 2-year-old daughter.
They suffered minor injuries, police said.
The woman’s 4-year-old son was still trapped inside.
Two brothers -- John and Joel Rechlitz, who are Milwaukee firefighters and were off duty -- were notified of the fire by one of their wives, who lives near the scene and saw the crash, said Tiffany Wynn, a Fire Department spokeswoman.
The video shows the off-duty firefighters trying to reach the boy through the windshield while off-duty police Lt. Mark Wroblewski sprays a fire extinguisher into the vehicle.
At one point the entire upper body of one of the off-duty firefighters is inside the vehicle before he pulls the boy out of the SUV.
Others then spray the boy with water while the man holds him. The boy was inside the burning vehicle for at least three minutes, the video shows.
The boy suffered burns to at least 30% of his body and was in surgery Sunday night at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, according to police and fire officials. His condition was not available.
It was not clear Sunday night which off-duty firefighter pulled the boy from the vehicle. Both men were treated for second- and third-degree burns but were released from the hospital Sunday night, Wynn said.
Wroblewski, who lives near the scene of the crash, said he spotted dark smoke from his yard and jumped in his truck to investigate. The fire was raging when he arrived, so he grabbed two fire extinguishers from his truck and ran to help.
“The off-duty firefighters, the off-duty police officers, these citizens of the city, they did an outstanding job,” said Wroblewski, who suffered minor injuries. “They showed the true spirit of the city by coming together to save this child’s life.”
The one-vehicle crash was under investigation Sunday night, but alcohol was not believed to be a factor, police said.
Copyright 2009 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel