'I had to do something': Hero officer saves woman from burning car

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County Police Department officer is being hailed as a hero after he saved a woman from a burning car.

Channel 2 Action News spoke to Oscar Escarcega, 22, who walked us through the frightening moments.

"Something inside me said, 'You have to do something,'" Escarcega said.

Escarcega told Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes on Sept. 5 he was called to the intersection of South Cobb Drive near Gym Road in Marietta for an overturned car.

"You couldn't see anyone in the car. There was no visibility. The car was completely engulfed in flames," Escarcega said, "There was a woman trapped inside, screaming, and the screams abruptly stopped all of a sudden."

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Investigators said the woman lost control of her car, it flipped and landed in the woods.

Escarcega and firefighters with engine 55 jumped in to save the woman

"The firefighters had pulled her out and I jumped in and grabbed her legs and I remember I pulled her legs up and I remember our victim looked at me so I could tell that she was conscious," Escarcega said.

Fernandes wanted to track the car down so she made several phone calls and finally found the car at the Barrow Wrecker service. Seeing it in person revealed just how burned it was, as the entire car was destroyed.

"If I had a loved one in that car, I would want public safety personnel to do everything in their power to get to that individual that was trapped in the car," Escarcega said.

The victim is still in the hospital recovering from those severe burns.

Fernandes asked Escarcega if he's spoken to the victim and he said he has and looks forward to meeting up with her in the near future.

Cox Media Group