Off Duty Army Captain Pulls Man From Fiery North Carolina Car Crash

Steve Voglezon and other neighbors jumped into action following the accident.

ByABC News
May 19, 2015, 8:13 AM

— -- An Army Captain is being hailed for his heroism after video emerged showing him rush to a car on fire -– and ignoring the danger -- in order to drag a man to safety.

The accident happened Sunday in Chatham County, North Carolina. Police said one of the drivers crossed the center line and hit a car with two passengers.

Neighbors jumped into action before firefighters arrived. That's when Fort Bragg Army Captain Steve Voglezon grabbed a fire extinguisher -- and ended up dragging William Thompson out of the fiery wreckage.

"I grabbed one of the fire extinguishers and we smashed out on the back window and the driver's side window. ....There wasn’t a real plan, I just had tunnel vision,” Voglezon said afterwards.

Voglezon credited his training with helping him stay calm.

“If I had not been a soldier, I would not have known what to do. The Army has helped a lot,” he said.

Voglezon, fittingly, was wearing a Captain America T-shirt at the time of the rescue.

Despite some injuries, the people involved in the crash survived. Even so, Voglezon downplayed his actions.

“I was just at the right place at the right time,” he said. “People do this every day at the fire department. I wasn’t alone out there, there were at least 10 of us in the community working together."