Borough Man Pulls Woman From Burning Car

A 34-year-old borough man pulled a disoriented woman from a burning car this morning after it smashed into a utility pole in front of his home in the 700 block of Grove Street in Haddonfield.

Harry Rhea said he heard a loud bang at about 8:50 a.m. and looked out to see the car wedged into the pole. He ran outside, pulled the passenger-side door open, and reached in to help the woman, even though the engine was on fire under the battered hood.

"I was a little bit concerned because there was a lot of smoke, not just from the airbag, but the engine was on fire," said Rhea, a criminal justice professor at Richard Stockton College and a former Marine. "I knew I had to hurry up and get her out. She didn't seem to know what was happening."

Rhea pulled the woman out of the passenger side of the car after yelling at her to unfasten the seat belt. Two police officers were on the scene shortly afterward and doused the flames with fire extinguishers, he said.

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The woman was conscious and had no visible injuries, Rhea said. She was taken by ambulance to Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Cherry Hill, police said. Her condition was not immediately available and she was not identified. It was a one-car accident.

Rhea's wife, Aimee, said she was still shaken by the crash as she stood on her front porch eying a leaning utility pole.

"It was making a noise like it was going to blow at any second," she said about the car. "It was actually pretty scary. I have four little boys and they love to ride their bikes and scooters back and forth. It really makes you think twice about letting them play and ride their bikes out here. People go so fast down this road.

"She would have plowed my babies down," she said. "They are 4, 5 and under. They're little guys. God forbid...GOD forbid."

Grove street was closed to traffic in both directions near the wreck for about an hour. Utility workers also responded to attend to the damaged pole.