Off-duty police officer pulls woman from burning car just before it explodes in flames

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. -- An off-duty police officer and others helped save a woman's life, pulling her from a burning car moments before it exploded.

Take a look at the huge flames. They erupted just after Seattle police officer John Smith pulled a woman from the wreckage of the crash. He was headed home on I-90 near Snoqualmie, when a four-car crash happened right in front of him.

He said he knew someone was hurt when he saw the tail end of the pickup fly up in the air.

"Dust was flying immediately, saw flames, so I pulled over, just luckily happened to be right there. Went up to open the door. The door would not open. Tried several times. Finally it popped open. Was dragging her across the freeway to get her to the other side. Some other Samaritans came up, grabbed her feet, carried her over and somewhere, seconds later, the car blew up."

The woman suffered bumps to the head, but it could have been much worse.

Smith said the other Samaritans included a retired Seattle firefighter, a volunteer firefighter, a doctor from Harborview and several others.