Hero saves elderly couple by dragging them out of burning car

Sarah HooperPublished Apr 21, 2024, 4:38pm|Updated Apr 21, 2024, 4:55pm

A man who saved an elderly couple by dragging them out of their burning car seconds before it exploded has been hailed as a hero.

Clive Jarvis, 38, was driving to work last week when he spotted a Renault Kangoo with smoke pouring from the bonnet.

The recovery driver pulled over to see if he could help but leapt into action when he saw it was on fire.

Clive managed to drag the elderly driver and his frail wife out of the motor just moments before it was engulfed in flames.

Dramatic pictures show the burning car in Malvern Road, Powick near Worcester, moments after the couple were rescued.

Clive said: ‘I was just leaving home and I saw this car. I saw the smoke and I thought it was steam from the radiator.

‘I had a look underneath the bonnet and saw the fire. It was right by the battery.

‘I just said to the couple “if I were you I would get out as fast as you can”. They were out the vehicle, then they went back in to get some stuff. Then I brought them up there.

‘The old boy went back into the car to get the belongings, I ran after him and grabbed him around his waist and pulled him out.

‘There was something in the vehicle he wanted, we all do it. It was the beginning of the inferno. We walked to my car and then it started.

‘The tyres went. It was only about a minute or two. He wouldn’t have moved quick enough to get out. He would’ve struggled to get out.’

The pensioner said in all of his years of driving, he had never experienced a fire like it – leaving the couple shaken up.

Clive added: ‘They were on the way to hospital when the engine started smoking.’

Firefighters dashed to the scene and quickly extinguished the blaze which completely destroyed the car.

A Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service spokesman: ‘A car was well alight and the fire was fought by one firefighter wearing breathing apparatus. Two occupants were checked over and advised to attend A&E.

‘The vehicle was checked for hot spots using a thermal imaging camera and highways were informed due to potential damage to the road. The incident was marked as pending closure at 11.35am.’

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