Sandy Springs police rescue man from burning car

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - Sandy Springs police rescued a man from a burning car just minutes after it crashed into a power pole.

The rescue was not an example of being in the right place at the right time, police told FOX 5’s Alex Whittler. Instead, they say their department has enough officers working around the clock to get to potentially fatal scenes within minutes.

Sandy Springs police say they weren't concerned about who was in the wrong at the time of the fiery rescue, but rather focused on saving a life.

"We have to save lives. That's number one protocol and in this case they realized the person was still inside," Sandy Springs police Sgt. Salvador Ortega said. "It’s the perfect definition of teamwork."

Body camera footage shows Sandy Springs police running toward this burning car. Some officers worked to break the car windows and pull a man from the life-threatening wreck.

 Others used a fire extinguisher to hold off the flames.

It was around 2 Friday morning when police got the call for car that crashed into a power pole on Roswell near Belle Isle Road.

"This happened by an apartment complex. Neighbors heard large crash looked out the window and saw the car. It was smoking," Ortega said.

Police say the entire endeavor - from the call to the "all-clear" - was just a matter of minutes.

Police say the driver was intoxicated. Police expect him to recover, but say this isn't the first he's been caught drinking and driving

"There's Uber and Lyft," Ortega said.  "This could've been avoided easily."

Police say they want this near miss to encourage others to drink responsibly.

Sandy Springs police charged the driver with DUI in April. That make's Friday’s fiery crash his second DUI in one month.

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