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A Good Samaritan who helped four people escape a fiery crash in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is speaking out about his heroic efforts.
Ross Dugan, who worked the overnight shift for the T, was driving home Wednesday around 6:30 a.m. when he saw a four-car crash happen near Exit 16A on Route 24. He says he then saw a Honda Civic burst into flames and his only reaction was to run over and try to help.
"The car went up in flames, I just, I thought, nobody got out so I just ran over there," he said.
Dugan says none of the doors would open but he was able to pull open a passenger window, allowing a man to get out. Dugan then got the driver and another passenger out.
Just as the flames became too intense, a second hero came over and started spraying a fire extinguisher into the open window, he says.
It was enough for Dugan to pull out the fourth victim.
NBC10 Boston's Sky Ranger helicopter was over the scene Wednesday, where thick smoke could be seen emitting from the flames.
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West Bridgewater Fire Chief Kenneth May says the scene was very "hectic" when crews arrived.
"When they arrived there, the car was fully involved and the occupants were pulled out on the side of the road," May said.
State Police say three of the victims who were pulled from the vehicle -- a 45-year-old man, a 27-year-old man, and a 36-year-old man, all from Lawrence -- were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton with non-life threatening injuries.
The fourth victim, a 46-year-old man from Lawrence, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with more severe non-life threatening injuries.
There were no updates on their conditions Wednesday night.
Kathy Fonseca, Dugan's mother, says she is not at all surprised by her son's heroic actions to pull the four men from the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. While Fonseca says she thinks what her son did is crazy, she says she is extremely proud of him.
Dugan suffered second degree burns to his face and hands, in addition to some cuts, but he says he has no regrets about jumping into help.
"I just hope somebody would do the same for me, rather than sit in traffic and watch the whole thing, and do nothing," he said.
All southbound lanes of Route 24 were shut down due to the fiery crash but reopened around 7:30 a.m.
May said, "It was pretty significant. A lot of debris all over the place and then we had to shut the whole road down to deal with it."
State Police say no one was injured in the other three vehicles that were involved in the crash.
The investigation into the crash, including the cause, is ongoing.
A fatal crash was reported on Route 24 in West Bridgewater hours earlier.
