Good Samaritans rescue father of 3 from burning car

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WLS) -- Two good Samaritans saved a driver, who is a father of three young children, from a burning car on I-40 in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., Monday morning, WKRN-TV in Nashville reported.

The driver was inside the car when it was swallowed by flames near the Old Hickory Boulevard, Central Pike exit.

The driver didn't want to be identified, but wanted to thank the men who saved him.

"They are just so little, they need me there, and I thank God that they were there to allow me to carry on and take care of them," the driver, who did not want to be identified, said.

The driver said he thinks the fire started in the front of the car and that smoke came through the vents, causing him to black out. His memories of the incident are hazy, he says, though he does remember pulling over to the side of the road.

Orlando Garcia and Anthony Armstrong, who both passed the burning car on the side of the road, pulled over to help. They repeatedly yelled "Get out of the car," which woke the driver up, but he was stuck in his seat belt. Garcia and Armstrong untangled him and pulled him out and behind the car to safety.

"My heart was pounding out of my chest," Armstrong said.

"I'm happy that he is safe," said Garcia.

Now the driver says he wants to thank his rescuers in person.

"[I want to say] Thank you so much for saving me," he said. "My kids will remember this forever, I'll make sure of it."

Firefighters believe that a "mechanical failure" was the cause of the fire.