Man Saves Driver From Burning Truck, Goes Back For Passenger
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COLLEYVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) - The cuts to Kevin Hargrove's hands came from shards of broken glass window.
Two days after he tried to save a woman from a fiery wreck, what hurts more, is knowing he could not save her life.
"She started saying help, help get me out, and by [that] time the fire was spreading pretty rapidly," said Hargrove.
Kevin Hargrove and his fiancée were driving home to Colleyville early Saturday morning, when they came across a wreck on the side of west-bound Hwy 183.
He immediately noticed a glow under the pickup truck that had crashed head-on into a metal utility box in the grass on the side of the highway.
Hargrove's fiancée pulled over, and he jumped out and ran to the vehicle, where he found a man in the driver's seat.
First responders were not yet on the scene. Hargrove found a shovel in the back of the truck and used it to smash the driver's window.
He and another passerby hoisted the man out of the truck.
"I said, 'Is there anybody else in the truck?' and he said, 'Yeah, my wife,' so I immediately ran to the other side and knocked out all the windows. By this time there was a little smoke in the cab and the flames were just starting to come in," said Hargrove.
Hargrove says the woman was conscious, and asked for help. He could see her seatbelt was across her shoulder. In the tangle of wreckage, he could not reach the buckle.
By that time, the flames were higher and several other drivers had stopped at the scene. Hargrove says he then called out for a knife so he could cut the woman free.
Save for a few people who stepped forward to help the injured driver, Hargrove can't recall anyone joining him to try to get the woman out of the car. Instead, he says many of the onlookers were recording the scene on their camera phones.
"I remember yelling, 'Somebody come help' and I remember looking back and seeing people holding iPhones. I remember the anger that nobody was helping," he said.
He says he can understand how some people may not be able to handle the intensity of the moment and put their own lives at risk – it is the fact that people recorded the scene that bothers him.
"Accidents – you're some kind of hero if you capture the video versus preventing it or stopping it or helping somebody. That's just not okay, and it's not going to have a good outcome," said Hargrove.
He ultimately ran out onto the highway, and yelled for a fire extinguisher. By that time a few other passersby were following his lead. Hargrove says a semi-truck driver saw the people waiving and stopped, offering his extinguisher.
When he ran back to the burning pickup truck, it was already engulfed in flames. Start to finish, he estimates it all happened in less than five minutes.
Fort Worth Police identified the woman who died as Elva Salinas. Her husband behind the wheel – Juan Salinas – was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Police say Juan Salinas, 43, will face a charge of intoxicated manslaughter for the fatal crash.
Two days later, Kevin Hargrove says he can't shake the images from his mind – the fiery crash, or the onlookers.
"I won't allow myself to think it's my fault. I think we might have had a chance to save her if I could have gotten two or three men to try to help me pry that door back," said Hargrove.
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