NEAR OCALA, Fla. (WSVN) -- A paramedic is being honored after having risked his life to help a man escape a burning car in Marion County.
A car smashed into a tree and burst into flames near Ocala Monday morning, leaving the driver trapped inside.
Stephen Cabrera, who was off duty at the time, saw the commotion and rushed to help.
A bystander used a broken piece of the car to break open a window, where Cabrera saw an airbag was keeping the driver pinned inside the vehicle.
"It was literally twenty seconds, and the outcome would have been much worse," he said. "There were flames inside the passenger compartment. He was actively getting burned on the right side of the body, so at that point, I had a knife where I was able to cut the seatbelt and the airbags away, and we were able to open up the car door to pull him out from the car."
While their chances of success looked slim at times, they managed to rescue the man from the burning car, getting him a safe distance away before Cabrera went back to see if anyone else was trapped inside.
"There was a moment there where I wasn't sure if we were going to get the door open in time," said Cabrera. "Busted out the rear window, and at that point, it was just a few seconds before the entire interior of the car was fully involved, and there was no way to get in."
No other people were inside the vehicle.
Cabrera says he's never truly off duty.
"Part of the job is we're never really off duty," he said. "I have almost 20 years. June will be 20 years with Marion County Fire Rescue, so it's kind of instinct nowadays, so I just kind of did what any first responder across the state would have done."
Cabrera's actions were nothing short of heroic; however, he credits the people without presumably no formal training who jumped in to help.
"I think they're the real heroes in this because it's second nature for me and all the other first responders that I work with, but for them to stop without any training, that's pretty extraordinary for them," he said. "The outcome was the best it could be for sure."
Marion County Fire Rescue said the man is expected to survive his injuries.
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