Fire Rescue News - Men save Ventnor woman before flames engulf SUV on Parkway ramp in Egg Harbor Township
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - Three motorists likely saved a local woman's life Wednesday evening when they pulled her from an SUV that flipped off an Atlantic City Expressway exit ramp and caught fire, police said.
Priscilla Roslyn, 61, of Ventnor, was turning from the expressway onto the Garden State Parkway southbound when she drove off the....Continue Reading
Call Recording
This is a VOX recording. It is condensed and not in real time.
roadway to the right and overturned onto the shoulder shortly before 5:30 p.m.
When police arrived the SUV was already engulfed in flames, but Michael Chura, of Baldwinsville, a village in upstate New York, Paul Talarico, of Northfield, and another unidentified man had already pulled Roslyn out of the vehicle, "seemingly saving Ms. Roslyn's life," the State Police report states.
Talarico said he arrived a few minutes after the accident happened and found Chura and the other man already parked and assisting the woman.
"I don't know anyone who wouldn't have done it," said Talarico, 46, of Oakview Drive, when reached by phone Wednesday evening.
He said Chura was already unsnapping Roslyn's seatbelt and pulling her from the smoking Jeep Grand Cherokee. They slowly moved the alert and conscious woman away from the vehicle as the fire grew, getting 100 yards away before flames completely consumed the SUV, he said.
Talarico, who was on his way home from work in Philadelphia, said he thought it would be overblown to call him a hero just for pulling over to help.
"I'm really glad I did, because five minutes later that Jeep was up," he said.
He said they asked the woman how the accident happened, but she already could not remember. The report from State Trooper Scott Farkas said the accident appeared to be caused by driver inattention.
Egg Harbor Township EMS responders took Roslyn to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, for non-life threatening injuries. Farmington and Cardiff fire departments extinguished the blaze, and Egg Harbor Township police officers also assisted.
Troopers also closed the exit ramp for 45 minutes while they cleared the scene.
Contact Lee Procida: 609-457-8707 LProcida@pressofac.com
