By Bruno Matarazzo Jr.
DANVERS — Police credit a 24-year-old resident for saving the life of a woman involved in a fiery crash Wednesday when he pulled her from the wreckage.
"His heroic actions saved the female operator as the car became fully engulfed," Danvers police Sgt. Robert Bettencourt said.
Michael A. Scalia of 4 Strawberry Hill Lane was sound asleep at 12:30 a.m. when he woke up to the sound of the car crashing into the tree in front of his home.
"I was half-asleep, but I couldn't see the car because it was behind the tree," Scalia recounted. "Then my mom started screaming: 'Someone's in the car! Someone's in the car!'"
Police said a 23-year-old Danvers woman was in the car. They have not yet released her name.
She was taken first to Beverly Hospital by Lyons Ambulance and later to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
Her condition was not available Wednesday, but Bettencourt said she appeared to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Scalia said the 2003 Ford Focus came down Strawberry Hill Lane, a residential street near the St. John's Prep campus, and crashed head-on into a street sign, then into a tree.
Scalia, a 2004 graduate of Danvers High School, ran out of his home barefoot and in his pajamas.
There was fire under the hood and enough smoke in the car to prevent Scalia from seeing the driver, he recalled.
"She was slumped over in the passenger's seat. She was unconscious; she wasn't responsive, so I grabbed her," the good Samaritan recalled.
Scalia said the driver's seat belt was not fastened when he came to the car. Both air bags deployed.
Scalia dragged the driver 15 feet away from the car as the fire burst throughout the smashed-up car.
"As soon as she was on the ground, she started moaning," Scalia said.
Scalia has lived at Strawberry Hill Lane with his parents all his life. He said he didn't recognize the woman involved in the crash.
Scalia came home to barrage of messages from local and Boston media outlets looking to interview him. Despite his efforts, he didn't want to make a big deal.
"I'm not going to pretend I was someone crazy — I was scared," Scalia said.
Patrolman Peter Shabowich is investigating the crash. He was assisted at the scene last night by Sgt. Paul Stone and Patrolman Rolly Levasseur.
Danvers firefighters squelched the car fire.
