A Saturday bread delivery to Palmerston North became anything but routine for Taupo truck driver Tony Duffy when he cut four passengers free from a burning vehicle moments before it exploded, after a fatal crash.
A former police officer and volunteer fire fighter Duffy told NZME his training kicked in during the dramatic rescue.
According to NZME Duffy was the first to arrive at the ‘horrific’ crash scene on State Highway 3 near Sanson.
An SUV towing a horse float had been hit by a car and had caught fire. Duffy says he reached the destroyed car first but when checking the driver’s vitals, he realised he was dead so went to help another man working to free a woman and three children in side the burning SUV.
“Two people had been pulled free but two young girls were stuck inside,” says Duffy.
“I was trying to reach in and help them…grab a knife, cut the seat belts. It was all crumpled up so we couldn’t really them out.
“I looked up and I saw the flames starting to get quite big and I thought if I don’t try to subdue that somehow then we’re not going to get them out.”
Duffy yelled for fire extinguishers from any of the nearby vehicles and five people came forward with them. It was just enough to keep the blaze under control before the two girls were cut free and dragged to safety.
After rescuing the children from the burning car, Duffy then freed the horse from the trailer, which had become trapped inside.
He told NZME he is a volunteer firefighter in Kinloch, and was in the police for 12 years before becoming a truck driver seven years ago.
“With my background and training, I didn’t really think about it until after, you know. Its just doing my job. I wouldn’t say I was a hero, just in the right place at the right time, I guess,” says Duffy.
Acting police inspector Nigel Allan told NZME preliminary investigations suggested the car driver, Kent James Bond, had overtaken a number of vehicles in the passing lane before losing control.
Allan says excessive speed was indicated to be a factor and the men who pulled the passengers free almost certainly saved their lives.
The driver of the SUV, a 41-year-old man was reported to be in a stable condition in Palmerston North hospital’s intensive care unit and the three children were all discharged.
