A highway patrol officer in California put a put a family on burn notice when he realized their car was on fire.
Officer Kaleo Clissold got the family to pull over into a parking lot and rescued two children from the back seat.
Vern Fisher, an employee for a local paper, was driving behind officer Clissold and the car when it initially caught fire.
"There was a huge explosion. Smoke and flames coming from the engine of the car," said Fisher.
Officer Clissold then signaled for the driver to stop, but the woman kept going for some time.
Fisher said he started rolling when the car eventually pulled over in a hotel parking lot.
"I thought it was just one person in the car. Then I started to hear the kids screaming. The scene changes when you hear kids screaming," said Fisher.
"I hear the kids crying and I know they needed to get out because they were buckled in so that was my first goal, was to get them out of the car as fast as I could," said Clissold.
Officer Clissold pulled one screaming child from the car and ran him over to his aunt, who had already escaped.
He wasn’t done yet. Clissold returned to rescue a second child from the smoking car, yelling for the driver to get out as well.
"Get out of the car! Come here! Your car’s on fire," the officer could be heard saying.
Vern Fisher credits the quick thinking of officer Clissold.
"He’s the true hero. He’s the guy that didn’t hesitate. All of his training and experience. He got these kids out within minutes," said Fisher.
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