Rescue a 'no-think' situation

Firefighters check the light truck after the crash victims were pulled to safety. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Colin Wiggins says he just went into autopilot yesterday helping to save two people from their crashed and blazing vehicles.

The Hastings carpet layer was driving along Lawn Rd on the outskirts of town just before 2pm when he watched - as if in slow motion - a "freakish" collision between a car and truck.

"There was a truck in front of me and it was slowing down," he said.

"I passed him and then looked in my rear-vision mirror to see him turn hard right.

"Another car was following behind me passing him ... it was horrible. You could see what was going to happen."

A white Honda Civic, driven by 17-year-old Michael McCann, slammed into the turning Toyota flat deck, driven by Hawke's Bay District Health Board kaumatua Bill Stirling, a Queen's Service Medal recipient.

McCann had two passengers, a teenage girl and another 17-year-old youth, in his car. Stirling was travelling alone.

The vehicles erupted into flames on impact, sending a thick black plume of smoke into the air.

McCann's car was thrown 10m into a ditch on the side of the road and Stirling's truck tipped on its side in the middle of the road.

"I immediately did a U-turn and just jumped out of the van. I saw a teenage girl crawling out of the driver's side window. It was partially blocked by the ditch. She was screaming that her boyfriend was in the car," Wiggins said.

Noel Kennedy also saw the smash and ran to help.

"We tried to get him [one of the teenage boys] out," Wiggins said. "He kept saying 'no, I'm too sore, I'm hurting', but we had to get him out. We dragged him away from all the flames and then realised we couldn't see the truck driver."

The men ran to Stirling's truck but could not see or hear him because the cab was full of smoke. "There was no sound in there at all. I went to my van and grabbed a hammer. I smashed the window out and felt around inside and found him," Wiggins said.

"He said that his foot was stuck so we waited for him to get that free and we pulled him out. Seconds later the truck just burst into flames. It was already on fire but the whole cab was a blaze of orange."

Wiggins said the only thing going through his mind as he rescued the men was getting them out alive.

"There was nothing else. I was just 'get these guys out of this'. Anyone would have done it. It's a no-think situation. It was so nasty."

He insisted he was "absolutely not" a hero - but police disagreed.

"It is very clear that without the immediate reactions of those who risked their own safety to drag free the trapped occupants that we would have been dealing with at least two fatalities," said Senior Sergeant Greg Brown. "They may be reluctant heroes, but they are exactly that."

The intensity of the fire had been enough to set the tar seal on fire. "The scene was like something out of a movie," Brown said.

Stirling was expected to be discharged from Hawke's Bay Hospital last night. His daughter Ruiha said he had a few cuts and grazes and a sore neck but was "fine".

He had been working at a community garden and was on his way to pick her up when the crash happened.

McCann broke a hip and suffered lacerations and was being given morphine last night.

His father Tony spoke to McCann briefly before he was medicated. "He's a bit upset at the moment. He's worried about the others in the car, but they are okay."

anna.leask@hos.co.nz