Car blaze hero rescues family's lives and their holiday

FIRE station manager Phil ­Nelson not only saved a family from a life-threatening car blaze. He also managed to save their holiday plans.

phil nelson, hero, car blaze, ordinary hero, hong kong, manchester airport, rescue, car explode, fumesFire station manager Phil Nelson poses with the family and the friend who was driving them[M.E.N.]

Phil, a firefighter for 18 years, did not hesitate to come to the rescue when he saw smoke and flames coming from the people carrier ahead of him on a motorway.

Switching his flashing emergency lights on, he managed to attract the driver’s attention to get him to pull on to the hard shoulder.

He helped the five occupants to scramble out of the Renault Scenic and even save their ­luggage seconds before the ­vehicle went up in flames.

Then he discovered the ­couple and their two sons in the car were heading off on holiday and were being driven by a friend to Manchester Airport four miles away to catch a flight to Hong Kong.

He immediately offered them a lift – and got them to the airport on time.

phil nelson, hero, car blaze, ordinary hero, hong kong, manchester airport, rescue, car explode, fumesThe family’s Renault Scenic engulfed in flames on the hard shoulder of the M56 [M.E.N.]

It was just an extra piece in my crazy day

Phil ­Nelson, fire station manager

By coincidence, Phil was driving back along the M56 to his Wythenshawe base in Greater Manchester after meeting a ­delegation of fire fighters from Hong Kong when the drama unfolded earlier this week.

He said yesterday: “First there was smoke coming out of the engine of the vehicle ahead, then there were flames. I flashed them to pull over and as soon as they stopped oxygen pooled around the engine compartment and it went up in a flash.”

He added: “I was trying to ring in to control and the family were trying to get their luggage out of the boot and I helped them with that.

“Then I got them back from the area, put my safety gear on and went to warn other motorists until the highway services arrived.”

He continued: “By that time the car was just a shell but the family and their friend seemed quite positive – they were just happy they were all OK.

“But if the car had exploded or fumes had come in through the ventilation system the outcome could obviously have been very different.

“Luckily I also had a people carrier and when I found out they needed to get to the airport I got them and their luggage loaded in and managed to get them there in time for their flight.

“It was the least I could do. I was happy to help make sure they didn’t miss the plane – it was just an extra piece in my crazy day.”

The family were in such a rush they did not give Phil their names for his fire service report.

And it was not known yest­erday when they would return from their Hong Kong trip.

But they were glad to pose for a snap with Phil before they took off.

And later a relative of the car driver contacted the fire chief to thank him for what he did to help them.

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