Woman saved by good Samaritans in Commack crash on Route 347

A young woman was rescued by two good Samaritans early Saturday morning after she became trapped inside her burning car. Flames erupted after the woman crashed her car into a tree on Route 347 near

News 12 Staff

Mar 11, 2014, 6:42 AM

Updated 3,707 days ago

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Woman saved by good Samaritans in Commack crash on Route 347
A young woman was rescued by two good Samaritans early Saturday morning after she became trapped inside her burning car.
Flames erupted after the woman crashed her car into a tree on Route 347 near the Smithtown Bypass. Off-duty Commack firefighter Matthew Monahan and Joseph Moscato, of Centereach, saw the scene and darted into action.
Monahan tried to smash in the windshield to pull the woman out but the engine started to catch fire. Moscato used a fire extinguisher from his car and managed to douse some of the flames while Monahan pulled the woman out.
"If we didn't get her out then, she wasn't going to make it and I had one last gasp in the extinguisher," said Moscato. "It bought us that 30 seconds that we needed."
After the woman was removed from the vehicle, the car erupted in a fireball.
Commack Fire Commissioner Patrick Fazio spoke to the woman's parents, who say they can't give enough thanks to Monahan and Moscato for risking their lives to save their daughter.


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