By Suzie Ziegler
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A young girl escaped with her life after a crash trapped her, unconscious, in the back of a burning car. It’s all thanks to the quick actions of two local law enforcement officers.
According to the Tukwila Police Department and Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the incident unfolded Saturday when deputies were called to a crash involving three vehicles. At the scene, Deputy Wiggins saw an 11-year-old girl unconscious in the back seat of one of the cars. He tried to open the doors, but they were jammed shut due to the crash. That’s when the car started to catch fire, the sheriff’s office said.
Wiggins ran back to his patrol car for a fire extinguisher while a bystander smashed in one of the windows and used a knife to cut the girl from her seatbelt. Officers pulled the child from the car moments before it became completely engulfed in flames, the sheriff’s office said.
It was then that Wiggins recognized the bystander as Commander Todd Rossi of the Tukwila Police Department. Rossi, a Pierce County resident, was off duty at the time of the crash.
“Thank you Commander Rossi for your bravery in the community where you live and where we serve,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “We truly appreciate your efforts to help save the life of this precious child.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEkjh4Djj6z/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link