Thursday, September 17, 2009
Warren police pair pulls unconscious duo from burning automobile on Beal Street.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN — Warren’s police and fire chiefs are crediting two police officers and alert neighbors for saving two unconscious men from their burning automobile.
The fire department said Bernard and Patricia Provitt of Beal Street called 911 about 3:42 a.m. Sunday. They reported that a small amount of fire was coming from the front and rear of a 2000 Dodge Stratus in the driveway of a house nearby at 2726 Beal N.W.
The Provitts said they pounded on the windows of the car, but the two men inside did not respond.
Two Warren police officers were nearby investigating a report of shots fired, with officer Brian Martinek arriving within a few minutes of the fire’s being reported.
Martinek turned on the dash camera in his cruiser and recorded as the burning vehicle began to roll backwards out of the driveway and into the street.
As the car entered the street, the driver’s side door opened, and Martinek could see that there was a person inside, so he went to the door and helped the disoriented man out of the car.
As he tried to help the man away from the car, he and Sgt. Michael Merritt realized there was a second person in the front passenger seat and also helped him out.
The tape shows the officers asking the men their names, why they were in the vehicle and other questions, but the men had difficulty talking and provided little information.
Firefighters arrived several minutes later and extinguished the fire.
“The officers performed their No. 1 function, and that is to preserve life,” said Tim Bowers, Warren police chief. “From what I know now, it looks like there would have been the loss of one or two lives if Officer Martinek and Sgt. Merritt hadn’t acted the way they did.”
Ken Nussle, Warren fire chief, agreed, saying it looks like the men would have probably died if someone hadn’t rescued them from the car, given the amount of fire damage already done to the car by the time firefighters arrived.
Firefighters don’t know yet what caused the fire, Nussle said, though it is clear that the fire started somewhere outside of the passenger compartment, possibly the engine compartment or elsewhere.
“This report is to recognize the heroic actions of Bernard and Patricia Provitt, Officer Martinek and Sgt. Merritt,” Lt. Paul Lamosek of the Warren Fire Department wrote in his report from the incident.
“The involvement of these people prevented the occupants of the vehicle fire from becoming fatalities.”
runyan@vindy.com