'Guardian angels'

It was at about 10:30 Wednesday morning when Elmont firefighter Jeff Dupoux was driving eastbound on the Long Island Expressway in Ronkonkoma and noticed the cars around him suddenly slowing down.

"Right at around Exit 60, traffic built up all of a sudden," he said. "Then I saw a vehicle overturned. A car accident had just happened, and I know this because the car's wheels were still spinning."

An SUV and a National Grid truck collided in the eastbound lanes, officials said. It was then that the Elmont firefighter, along with a Suffolk County police officer, rushed to rescue a woman trapped inside in the driver's seat of her SUV.

Suffolk Police Highway Patrol Bureau Officer Thomas Mutarelli and Dupoux were both off duty when they got out of their cars and managed to remove 36-year-old Melissa Ortiz, of Yaphank, who was trapped on the driver's side.

"I climbed in halfway to detach her seat belt," Dupoux said. "While this was going on, the engine compartment of her car caught on fire. I saw then that the only egress to get her out was the passenger side window."

While Dupoux undid her seat belt, Mutarelli pulled her out of the window.

"The truck landed on its tires," Dupoux said. "The driver of the truck was in shock but otherwise OK. The car landed on its hood. We got her out just in time, as the rest of her car caught fire."

Ortiz and the driver of the truck, Frederick Foote, were rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, though Ortiz had a couple of contusions on her head, Dupoux said.

"These two men are truly guardian angels who were at the right place, at the right time," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini said. "This is truly an act of bravery and professionalism."

The eastbound lanes were completely shut down for investigation and cleanup, but the stretch of highway reopened to traffic in time for the evening commute.