Teen saves coworker from burning car after medical emergency

LONSDALE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Grant Fitterer was cooking at his job at the Rail 19 Bar & Grill on Aug. 12, when he smelled something strange and discovered his coworker’s car was on fire in the back lot.

Inside the car, his 25-year-old coworker, Jackson Pollock, was unresponsive.

"It was full of smoke. There was smoke all around it, and I saw Jackson lying over the center console," Grant told FOX 9 on Tuesday. "This could’ve been so much worse than it was."

Grant said Jackson had been feeling ill earlier and went outside to take a break. But moments later, he began to experience a medical emergency.

During that time, witnesses say Jackson’s foot stayed on the gas pedal and eventually started the car on fire.

Grant opened the car doors to clear out the smoke and shut off the car’s engine. By the time the police arrived, Fitterer and his coworkers had already pulled Jackson from the car.

"I guess that the flames were 10 or 15 feet above the car, just huge smoke clouds all up in the air," Grant said.

Witnesses say the car "melted like a candle, fusing into burned-out holes in the pavement."

But even in the heat of the moment, Grant’s father, Alan Fitterer, says his son remained calm and made their entire community proud.

"He saved a life last Monday," Alan said.

Grant tells FOX 9 his coworker is now recovering after the close call.