Officer frees woman from burning car on I-5

File photo



SEATTLE -- About 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, a Washington State Patrol detective came upon a car on Interstate 5 that was on fire with a woman trapped inside.

Trooper Julie Judson said that a detective with Washington State Patrol was driving along southbound I-5, south of 272nd Street when he saw a car on fire. As he approached the vehicle, he realized the female driver was inside the burning car and that the driver's compartment was on fire and beginning to fill the car with smoke.

Using his handheld radio, the officer struck the window a number of times in order to break the glass and rescue the woman.

The detective told Judson that had he not grabbed his radio, he would have been unable to free the woman in time.

Judson said the woman's car had a flat tire and she had initially stopped in Lane 4 of the interstate when she was rear-ended by another vehicle. The impact of that crash caused the driver's door to be stuck, and trapped her inside.

There is no information on the condition of the woman at this time.