VIDEO – Hero Cops Rescue Man from Burning Vehicle in New Jersey: ‘We Had to Get Him Out’

Heart-stopping body camera footage shows three police officers heroically rescue a man out of a burning vehicle in Bergen County, New Jersey.

The intense rescue happened in Ridgefield Park, where Christopher Vagnone, 55, of Fort Lee, was trapped in a burning Honda Accord on Route 46 at around 2 a.m. on July 2, Pix11 reported.

When officers arrived on the scene, they knew they had to act fast to get Vagnone out of the vehicle. But the Accord’s doors would not open.

“Our assumption is that the battery went and that was the reason for the electronic failure, so we weren’t able to unlock the doors, lower the windows, move the seats, so it made our job a lot more difficult,” said Sgt. Nicholas Triano, per PIX11.

Triano thought quickly, grabbed a halligan bar out of his patrol vehicle, and smashed the windows of the car with it.

From there, Triano and Officers Anthony D’Elia and Nicholas D’Alto pulled Vagnone out of the burning wreckage and brought him to an area clear of the flames, Fox 5 reported. Ridgefield Park Fire Department showed up on the scene moments later to put the fire out.

The New Jersey officers who responded told reporters that had they waited any longer, it might have been too late for the driver.

Ridgefield Park Police Department

“In the moment, the only thing that’s on my mind is getting him out of the car. We had to get him out. I was fortunate that I had my partners here with me that were able to successfully yank him out of that window,” Patrolman Nicholas D’Alto told CBS 2.

Remarkably, Vagnone was not seriously injured, and a family member picked him up from the scene, Fox 5 noted.

“This is something that, you know, you may not experience in a 30-year career, so having been a part of it and it being a successful job at the end of the day is one of the highlights of my career, no doubt about it,” Triano told PIX11.

A Good Samaritan also assisted the officers in helping save Vagnone’s life, CBS 2 noted.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.