Hero at fiery Dunedin car crash hailed as 'nothing short of extraordinary'

October 9, 2019

If it wasn’t for Les Carty, those involved in a Dunedin car crash might not be alive.

Survivors of a fiery car crash in Dunedin can thank local residents, including a man who had fire extinguishers in his house, for saving their lives.

Les Carty, the local car parts dealer in Caversham, was at home on Sunday night when a car crashed into a power pole and burst into flames.

"We heard this almighty bang. And all the power went out in the house. We looked out the window, saw there was a car hit a pole. I said a couple of expletives," Mr Carty recounted on Seven Sharp.

Chris Lind, Fire and Emergency New Zealand Assistant Area Commander for East Otago, said the crash was "a worst case scenario where you've got multiple hazards existing which includes the fire, people trapped and live wires down".

He said the car "was effectively livened up" with a 33,000 volt cable on the pole, and "it's certainly not survivable if you came into contact with it".

But all Mr Carty had was pint-sized fire extinguisher and a spare one, designed more for a rubbish bin fire than a volatile inferno.

"So I ran down the driveway. And I heard the commotion going and the flames. One of our local guys across the road, Eddie, was here on the scene first," he said.

"I went around the front and had a blast at the fire."

Mr Lind said it could have been a completely different outcome had Mr Carty not taken the action he took. 

"There was a lot of risk involved. He assessed the risk, made the right choice to keep his distance. The actions he took are nothing short of extraordinary. It's not something we'd expect general members of the public to be able to deal with."

There were other residents involved, but without Mr Carty, things could have been much worse.

"We were their Johnny on the spots. We were doing our part," he said.

The car's occupants can also thank their lucky stars Mr Carty had some experience at emergencies.

"I helped out with a similar incident two or three years ago," he revealed.

"Unfortunately, things happen on this corner more often than not."

Mr Carty is the kind of New Zealander we all hope we could be when calamity shows up at the front door, TVNZ1's Seven Sharp said of the incident. He's the kind who'll take on a fireball with the fire extinguisher equivalent of a garden hose.

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