March 27, 2023 Orlando Fire Lt. Benjamin Wootson saw the crash and pulled the Seminole County deputy out in the nick of time.
Source Firehouse.com News
An Orlando firefighter headed to his son’s soccer practice pulled a Seminole County sheriff’s deputy out of his cruiser Saturday morning as flames intensified.
Lt. Benjamin Wootson saw the crash, made a U-turn and dragged the deputy out, WESH reported.
He said he turned as the deputy passed him headed in the opposite direction, and saw the cruiser hit the support beam.
“By the time I got on scene, there was a little bit of flames underneath the vehicle, the engine compartment was already on fire, [Deputy Luxon] was disorientated,” he told reporters.
Other motorists offered a knife and seat belt cutter. Wootson used the deputy’s radio to call for help.
“Within 15 seconds of pulling him out the vehicle was fully engulfed,” Wootson said.
Deputy Matt Luxon, 33, is recovering.
“Training for the department for the last 10 years has pretty much prepped all of us for what we do on a daily basis on and off the job. God put me in a place where [my son and I] were running late on purpose. I was in the right place at the right time to save an individual.”
Wootson was reminded of the time when his own father saved someone from a fiery crash many years ago.
He added that now his son will never forget what he saw.
“He was like ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to tell all my friends’ and I’m like, ‘Alright, that works, long as you understand,'” Wootson said about his son. “So this was a perfect example so he can see what we do as firefighters, first responders firsthand.”