Duo rescue driver from burning car...

Duo rescue driver from burning car

When John Abiskaron and David Larson drove along Harbor Boulevard

in Costa Mesa early Monday and encountered traffic, they sprung into

action.

The duo helped rescue Medardo Lopez, 36, whose speeding 1984

Oldsmobile Cutlass struck a light pole at Date Place at about 12:30

a.m., said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney. When they arrived at

the car, Abiskaron, 29, and Larson, 37, found an unconscious Lopez

trapped inside the then-burning vehicle.

Larson, a Buena Park tow truck driver, retrieved a fire

extinguisher from his West Coast Towing truck and tried, to no avail,

to quench the flames, Birney said. So, the two were left with one

other option: to pry off the door to pull Lopez out. As soon as they

did, flames engulfed the car, he said.

Costa Mesa Fire paramedics treated Lopez at the scene and

transported him to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Birney said.

Lopez of Santa Ana suffered major burns in the burning vehicle, he

said.

-- June Casagrande