A policeman in the USA has literally gone through fire to save a citizen in need. Sergeant Ashleigh Taylor came to the rescue of a driver after their car crashed and caught alight. Taylor rushed to the scene of accident near Highway 46, and pulled the driver, a woman, from behind the driver’s seat.

The Candler County Sheriff’s Office has hailed Taylor as a hero.

Video footage from the officer’s body cam shows Taylor pulling over to the side of the road. He jumps out of his cruising and dashes through several metres of brush. After a bit he comes across a red car covered in thick grey smoke and rising flames.

He was responding to several reports of a car that had veered off the road.

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‘Come on, get out of the car’

At the scene, despite the rising smoke and leaping fire, Taylor starts hitting the car windows with a baton, hoping to get to the driver trapped inside. Taylor yells at the woman to remove her seat belt.

“Give me your hand,” Taylor shouts. “Come on, get out of the car,” he says as he finally breaks through the window, and pulls the woman out of the car.

Following the dramatic rescue, he places the (seemingly disorientated) women on the ground and runs back to look for any other trapped passengers. Luckily, there is no one else inside the burning car.

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The Sergeant asks a bystander at the scene, to help him carry the woman out of the brush and away from the blaze.

Candler County Sheriff John Miles commended Taylor’s heroic efforts. “Due to Sergeant Taylor’s swift actions, the driver was removed from a dangerous situation before it escalated,” he said. Sheriff Miles also acknowledged that Taylor’s bravery potentially saved a life.

Local media reports indicate that the driver was having a medical emergency, and is expected to make a full recovery.