Michael Walowy visits his vacation home in Chenango County, New York, every so often to cut grass or just relax.

He usually travels alone, but this past weekend, he asked his longtime friend George Huckins to accompany him.

Their plans were to stay until Monday, but when the forecast revealed scattered thunderstorms, they decided to leave Sunday.

The decision to bring Huckins, and the decision to hit the road early, likely saved a Lehighton man’s life.

“What it boils down to is being at the right place at the right time,” Walowy said.

Off the road

Walowy and Huckins were traveling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Jenkins Township, Luzerne County, just after noon Sunday when a vehicle in front of them jetted off the roadway.

“We were right behind him. Obviously, he lost control of his car and something had to be the catalyst for that. I’m assuming he suffered a seizure or something because he just went off the road,” Walowy recalled.

There were no brake lights, and the Mazda CX5 was traveling at least 65 mph as it scraped a guardrail and bounded up an embankment. It launched into the air and struck a tree on its way down.

Walowy screeched his vehicle to a halt. He dialed 911 as he and Huckins ran to the crash.

“The call didn’t go through right away. I don’t really drive the turnpike often, so I didn’t realize I was supposed to call *11,” Walowy said. “It took a minute or so for the call to be redirected. It seemed like a lifetime.”

The driver, identified by Pennsylvania State Police as 46-year-old John Bekas, was incoherent. He was also trapped inside the car.

Huckins tried the driver’s side door. It didn’t open. Neither did the passenger side door.

That’s when Huckins realized the impact blew the battery out of the car, and disabled its power lock system.

“There was adrenaline flowing to get him out,” Huckins said. “We didn’t have any crowbars or anything. All of a sudden it just clicked. I grabbed the passenger side door handle inside to open the door.”

Fire breaks out

At this point, dry grass under the car had ignited and flames began to crawl.

Huckins and Walowy attempted to pull Bekas to them. He was sweating and difficult to grab. Wedged between the steering wheel and seat, it was impossible to drag him over the center console.

“Now the little tiny fire that was under the car is now fully involved in the engine compartment and it is starting to come through the dashboard,” Walowy said.

They again tried the driver’s side door. This time, it opened.

The two grabbed Bekas under the arms and hoisted him from the seat.

“We got him out of the car and onto the grass, and the car went up in flames,” Walowy said. “We had to pull him out of there because now the grass is on fire and the fire is coming toward us.”

“It was fully involved. I think the heat from the catalytic converter started the grass fire but with all that gas and stuff dripping out of the motor, the fire really got going,” said Huckins, of Warminster, Bucks County.

A Pennsylvania Turnpike Authority employee arrived and unsuccessfully attempted to knock down the flames with an extinguisher.

Walowy said a nurse who was passing by stopped and held Bekas’ hand until an ambulance crew pulled up. Another nurse and a male motorist also offered their help.

State police said Bekas was taken to the Geisinger-Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, for non-life threatening injuries.

‘Get this guy out’

Walowy, of South Hampton, Bucks County, is an officer at the Bucks County Department of Emergency Management. A Marine, he worked as an officer with the Cinnaminson Township Police Department for most of his career.

But he doesn’t credit his experience for what he did Sunday.

“I would like to think that anybody who is in that situation would hopefully do the same thing, I would hope that if it was me in the car and somebody was riding behind would do that,” he said. “You hope for the best of people to come out. You would hope that people would stop for me or you if that happened.”

As a retired truck driver, Huckins has seen crashes - but never saw one happen before his eyes.

“The only thing I thought was, ‘Get the guy out, no matter what cost. Get him out’,” Huckins said. “What else are you going to do? Sit back and watch him die?”

A Geisinger official said Bekas was in fair condition Tuesday afternoon.