Arizona Man's Heroic Rescue: Saves Two Toddlers from Burning Car Seconds before Explosion

ARIZONA - In a dramatic turn of events last Thursday evening, an Arizona man rescued two young girls, aged two and three, from a flaming car seconds before it was engulfed by flames, Fox News reports.

The hero of the day, 30-year-old Sam Heiler, was driving on a remote highway with his wife when he noticed a car ahead of them with an engine that had caught fire. Deciding to stop as the flames grew, he observed a distressing scene unfold.

The parents of the two girls managed to exit the vehicle but in a frightening twist of fate, all the car doors locked automatically. The rear doors, behind which the terrified girls were strapped in, were inaccessible.

Arizona man heroically saves two toddlers from burning car moments before it's engulfed in flames https://t.co/K6X2c6Yr31

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"The parents were in utter panic," Heiler recounted. "They were screaming, beating the windows with their bare hands." Despite their efforts, the parents were unable to break the windows. According to Heiler, they had an estimated 20 seconds before the fire would spread. "The girls were screaming, the parents were screaming, my wife was screaming – it was horrific," he said. "When the fire reached the fuel tank, it resulted in a massive fireball."

In a desperate attempt, the girls' father tried to break the rear window with stones, but the risk of shattered glass and flying stones endangering the children was too high. Assessing the situation, Heiler decided to hurl a stone through a front-side window, enabling him to unlock the doors from inside.

Once the doors were opened, Heiler worked swiftly to free the girls and pull them from the burning vehicle. The harrowing incident ended with the safe retrieval of the children, thanks to the quick-thinking actions of Heiler. His bravery underlines the extraordinary feats of heroism ordinary people can perform in the face of danger.