Good Samaritans Honored by Elsmere Fire, Albany County Sheriff and Town of Bethlehem

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

On May 7th, two Brooklyn residents were honored by local Albany County agencies for their selfless bravery in pulling two victims from a car accident just before the vehicle burst into flames.

Two men from New York City are honored here in the capital region for saving the lives of a man and his son from their burning car last weekend.Time warner cable news reporter Michael Howard spoke to them and has their story.

DELMAR, N.Y.-- Recalling the intense heat and flames Ludwik Branach and Wieslaw Szczutowski said they are no heroes.

"We have to all the time help people," said Branach, rescuer.

However, emergency responders disagree.

The pair said they were driving on the Delmar bypass on Sunday afternoon on their way to visit friends when police said Albany resident Timothy Berry suffered a medical condition while behind the wheel of his vehicle.

The 48-year-old lost control of his car, which went careening into the woods with himself and his son inside. It flipped over then caught fire.

"I was shocked and didn't know what to do," said Wieslaw and Szczutowski, rescuers.

The two said they immediately stopped and rushed to help Berry and his 16-year-old son trapped inside, the cabin filling up with smoke.

"My dad was under me and he was yelling Jack we have to get out," said Jack Berry, son of Timothy Berry.

"It really had a feeling that a fire was going to erupt at any moment," said Timothy Berry,

That's when said he used a stick to break out a window pulling jack to safety, his father was pulled out by another passerby.

"He pulled me out to safety, got back in his car and drive away, no one knows who he was,” said Timothy Berry.

Seconds later their car was fully engulfed in flames, Barry's was taken to the hospital where doctors are still trying to determine how and why he passed out.

Jack Berry suffered a broken finger, but the two said it could have been deadly without the actions of the eyewitnesses they're calling heroes.

"There was only a moment for my son and I to get out of that vehicle and without them stepping up and doing what they did we might not be alive today,” said Timothy Berry.