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Yesterday morning, firefighter Eddie Bohan was driving on the Northern State Parkway on his day off when he saw an SUV on fire. Bohan broke into the car and pulled out the driver, 58-year-old John Collymore, who had crashed into a lightpole. The firefighter, assigned to Engine 44 on the UES, first tried to his elbow to break into the vehicle, but ended up taking a metal mile marker to smash the glass. Collymore's daughter would like to give Bohan a "A thank you, and a hug would be in there somewhere. Words can't say how truly grateful we are."
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Without detracting at all from the firefighter's actions in saving this guy's life, I always find it curious that the news emphasizes that a cop or fireman was "off duty" at the time. Aren't the people in those positions effectively on call to assist whenever they come across a situation in progress?
A fireman who chances upon a man trapped in a burning car and responds with "sorry, dude, I'm off the clock" wouldn't be much of a fireman.
I think the point is that he wasn't called to the scene to address the situation, and that even if a cop or firefighter is "off-duty", they have to be ever vigilant, whereas most of us go about our own narcissistic business when we're off the clock. Since noone else bothered to help this guy stuck in the burning car, it's lucky he happened to drive by.
I don't think it's fair to say nobody else bothered to help. The article didn't mention whether there was anybody else around. Still, he deserves praise, although I wonder why he thought he could break the glass with his elbow. He should have known that tempered glass is very strong. That's why you need some kind of fairly sharp tool -- like a rescue hammer -- to damage the surface so it can shatter.
The fact that this firefighter was off duty just shows how truly heroic he is- when he is working, he has gloves, protective gear, and backup. But driving along the side of the road seeing this, wearing flipflops, while NOT working, he saw this and he stopped. He also thought quickly and improvized, using a mile marker to break the window.
I think we should all focus on that-- here is a nice piece of news to read about- what a difference from reading stories about firefighters and people getting killed. Here is someone who saw something and did something about it, and his actions obviously affected so many other people inadvertently- think of the friends and family of the man trapped in the car who would have been mourning the loss of a loved one, but instead are celebrating his life and the heroic actions of someone else.