‘I’m just happy we were able to help out’: 2 teens rescue stranger from burning car along I-79

Two teenagers are being hailed as heroes after braving flames to save a stranger from his burning car.

Mike Crist, 19, and stepbrother, Austin Travis, 18, were driving with their mom on the night of April 4 when she noticed flames coming from under a car on the median along I-79 by the exit to 422 in Butler County. She pulled over.

“Something in her head told her, ‘I need to stop,’” Crist said.

The teens said they didn’t stop to think and just ran to save the man’s life. Crist started running toward the flames as the car filled with smoke.

“The inside of the vehicle was completely in flames,” Crist said. “The steering wheel was melting; the dashboard was melting; the stereo was melting. Everything was just melted like water from how hot it was. The guy was sitting in the passenger seat trying to reach for things with his legs burning, skin falling off.”

He was able to pull the man out.

“I had to grab underneath his arms and pull him out of the car,” Crist said.

Travis wasn’t too far behind, checking to make sure no one else was in the car.

“When we fully opened the door, that’s when the fire started,” Travis said. “It all happened really, really fast. It all got engulfed within like a minute.”

Pennsylvania State Police officials say that car was the only one involved in the fire. Days later, the grass where it happened is still burnt.

“I’m just happy we were able to help out,” Travis said.

Without a second thought, the two brothers put their lives on the line.

“It was never a thought of we could get hurt. It was just this guy’s in need. We’re here. Let’s help,” Crist said. “His life is okay, and that’s what matters to me the most.”

The brothers said the man’s legs were badly burned and he was awake when he was taken to the hospital.

They also said that man told them and the officers that he had dropped his cigarette in the car and tried to put it out when the car burst into flames.

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