Teen Firefighter Saves Philadelphia Officer from Burning Cruiser

WHEN JOE Chambers saw sparks flying from the bottom of the police car that crashed Saturday near his sister’s home in Grays Ferry, the 17-year-old volunteer firefighter knew that the cop trapped inside had only seconds to escape.

So, the teen from Ridley Park – now being hailed as a hero along with another man, Dante Johnson, 24, for saving the officer’s life – sprang into action: He sprinted down the block toward the burning squad car, at 28th and Tasker streets.

“I started running full speed down the street and as I got to the car, the bottom of the car caught fire and then the hood caught fire . . . the door was jammed shut, I couldn’t get it open,” Chambers, a senior at Ridley High, recounted yesterday.

“I looked over at the people watching and I said, ‘Somebody’s gonna have to come help me,’ and [Johnson] came over and I said, ‘We’re gonna have to get him through the window.’ “

The pair pulled out Officer Mark Kimsey, 30, who works in Point Breeze’s 17th District and has been on the job since last year.

“The whole windshield was almost melting because the engine was so hot,” Chambers said.

He and Johnson, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, quickly lifted the officer, who was going in and out of consciousness, through the window and moved him away from the car and onto the sidewalk.

“Right when we got him to the sidewalk, the engine compartment blew,” said Chambers, a volunteer firefighter with Leedom Fire Company, in Delco for almost four years. “Within 30 seconds, the whole car was gone.”

Police said that the close call began just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday when Kimsey, lights and sirens activated, was driving west on Tasker Street from 27th on his way to a priority call. At the intersection of 28th and Tasker, a man driving a Toyota Tacoma made a left and collided with Kimsey’s squad car. Both Kimsey and a 52-year-old man in the Tacoma became trapped in their vehicles, police said.

Cops said that initial reports yesterday claiming that the driver of the Tacoma fled the scene were inaccurate.

Chris Close, an assistant chief with Leedom Fire Company, in Ridley Township for 14 years, said last night that everybody in the company is proud of Chambers – but they weren’t surprised by the teen’s actions.

“He’s really into it. He’s not going to turn away from anything,” Close said. Of a handful of teenage volunteers in the company made up of about 15 to 20 active members, Close said, Chambers has always been a leader and a go-to guy when the alarms sound.

“He’s there all the time,” Close said. “He’s one of our top responders.”

When Chambers and Johnson helped the officer out of harm’s way, they didn’t stop there: After they pulled Kimsey from his car, they helped the Tacoma’s driver escape his truck, too. By the time firefighters arrived, Chambers said, Kimsey’s patrol car was engulfed in flames.

Both Kimsey, who suffered burns and a head injury, and the other driver were treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for non-life-threatening injuries. Police said both were in stable condition.

For Chambers, who hopes to join the military after high school and eventually work as a police officer or firefighter, saving the cop hit close to home: His uncle, Eric Johnson, is a veteran Philadelphia Police detective.

Chambers visited Kimsey in his hospital room later Saturday night, where the lucky cop was surrounded by his fellow officers.

“It felt great just to see that he was OK,” the teen said yesterday.

“He said, ‘I can’t thank you enough.’ I was like, ‘You don’t have to, it’s fine.’ I would do it any day of the week if I had to.”

On Twitter: @morganzalot

Blog: PhillyConfidential.com