by Jordan Smith
SACRAMENTO, CA (KOVR/CNN) - What do you do if you see a car driving down the road on fire?
It happened on I-80 and Madison in Sacramento. A woman was driving with her two grandchildren when the driver next to her noticed flames shooting out from underneath her car.
Kenneth Knox knew by the time first responders arrived, it might be too late, so he took matters into his own hands. He had no choice but to force the flaming car off the road.
“Flames were coming out both sides,” Knox explained. “Got my car real close to her car.”
He said the driver had no idea her car was on fire.
“When we went up to the window, she says, ‘Why’d you pull me over?' I said, "Because your car’s on fire.’ She says, ‘Oh, my god, my babies,’” Knox recalled.
He didn't think twice before opening the rear door.
"There's a 3-year-old and 5-year-old strapped in car seats in the back of the car, so we started scrambling and got them out," Knox said.
His wife Dianne on the got phone with 911 operators with seconds to spare
"It was like, we've got to get her out of here," she said. "In a second, it could've burst."
The car did burst into flames, but the grandmother and children got out uninjured.
"I got to hold the baby and carry him back to the ambulance, Kenneth Knox said. “Boy, it hit me hard."
Still, the Knoxes had one more thing to do before leaving. They went to the back of their car, removed their grandchild’s car seat, and handed it to the woman who just lost both of hers.
“This poor woman is sitting there, shaking hysterically, and you know, just get one more thing off her mind,” Dianne Knox said.
"We got in the car after we gave her the car seat. She started crying because of that,“ Kenneth Knox said. “We just sat and hugged each other for a minute."
Police said the story should serve as a warning. If you're driving and smell smoke, pull over, just to be safe.
Copyright 2018 KOVR via CNN. All rights reserved.
