The men were driving to meet colleagues for dinner Monday night when there was a small snafu.
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"We actually took a wrong turn and ended up on that highway," said Tanner Stuettgen, who was here from Clemson, South Carolina.
READ MORE: No one injured in fiery Schaumburg crash on Route 53, Illinois State Police say
Their wrong turn put them face-to-face with a fiery crash in Schaumburg. As other commuters maneuvered away from the wreckage, the group drove towards it and jumped out to help.
"Without hesitation, like, I couldn't believe it, just took off and went for it," said Jarrett Powers, visiting from San Jose, California.
The group, which also included Jason Tierney from Philadelphia and Brennan Whitten from Dallas, split up to tend to the drivers in both cars, as the silver vehicle was engulfed in flames.
"You couldn't see through the windshield because of the flames, and it was shattered," Stuettgen said.
"The windshield's all busted up, the airbags are deployed," said Griffin Nathman, visiting from Dallas.
Stuettgen said as they approached the flaming car, they didn't know what to expect.
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"We opened the front door, realized someone was in there and then just tried to start talking to them, move the airbags out of the way," he said.
"Tanner and I made sure that, like, the doors were clear. Brennan was on my back to make sure that, like, we were OK," said Powers.
By that time, the fire had reached every part of the car except for the driver's side.
"The car starts popping and, you know, the fire's escalating," said Nathman.
"It was just trying to get them out of the car as fast as we could, because we could see the flames were getting bigger and bigger," said Stuettgen.
"It got to a point where, like, we took a step back and looked at the car, and we didn't really have a choice at that point," Powers said.
So the group made the decision: get the driver and get out.
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"[Jarrett] gets him under the airbags, while Tanner's kind of pulling the curtains up. And then, you know, we get them out and each of us can just grab a limb and try and carry him you know, as far away from their car as possible," said Nathman.
The driver of the other car got out OK and didn't appear injured, the group said.
This all happened minutes before first responders arrived and before flames engulfed the entire car.
"I would just hope that if, you know, if it was ever one of my friends or family that was in a crash like this, that there would be people who would stop and help," Stuettgen said.
"If it comes to that split second of should I help or not? Go for it," urged Nathman.
"We were happy to be there to help," said Powers.
Illinois State Police say they are still investigating what led up to the crash.