Man Heroically Saves Toddlers From Burning Car Seconds Before It Exploded

Credit: Fox News / Sam Heiler

Just before the car exploded, a heroic man from Arizona helped two toddlers in escaping the flaming vehicle.

On the Navajo reservation in Arizona, Sam Heiler saved two young girls, ages two and three, from being burned to death in a car.

On Thursday evening, the 30-year-old and his wife, Melissa, were traveling to a Memorial Weekend retreat when they observed that the automobile in front of them had caught fire.

Credit: Fox News / Sam Heiler

Sam decided not to continue driving because the car's engine had caught fire and he stopped next to it.

According to Melissa's account to Fox News, when the parents of the vehicle engulfed in flames got out of the front seats and shut the doors, she and her husband were suddenly unable to access the car. Consequently, they were unable to open the rear doors to rescue their two children.

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"The parents were freaking out, screaming and punching the windows with their bare hands, both the back windows in front of the babies," Melissa explained.

The mother and father made numerous attempts to break out the windows but were unsuccessful.

"They had about 20 more seconds until the fire spread from the engine block to the cab," she continued.”

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"The girls were screaming, the parents were screaming, my wife was screaming—it was bad.”

"When the fire hit the fuel tank it made a legitimate fireball explosion.”

"Dad followed suit, but from the panic, attempted to throw rocks at the back windows where the girls would have been covered with glass and a heavy rock had it broken through.”

"All the while, the flames had now spread to completely covering the front hood of the car, and the two and three-year-old are screaming."

Hero Sam, who had a fast mind, threw a rock through the front window, breaking the glass and allowing him to open the doors from the inside.

"Once the doors were open, Sam helped unbuckle them from their seatbelts, assisted the Mom and Dad in removing them from the car, and brought them up to where we pulled over about 30 yards up the road," Melissa added.

However, because it was a distant location, there was no phone network to call for help.

Sam found a solution by waving down another driver who contacted 911 when they were able to get cell service again, roughly 25 miles further down the road, using glow sticks he always keeps in his car.

The fire was eventually extinguished by local firemen and police after it spread from the car to a Navajo County forest.

"But, in that same instant, something came over him, and he felt like he had to stop and see if he could help. Divine intervention, no doubt in our minds," Melissa said.