'Hero' off-duty firefighter saved family from burning car on A38

An off-duty firefighter has been called a 'hero' after saving a family of five from a burning car in Devon.

Ed Durante from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue has been praised by colleagues after he, and a number of other off-duty emergency service staff, stopped to help the passengers.

He said: "I'm just glad that I was there at the right time by sheer fluke. I had stopped to buy a packet of crisps at the petrol station. If I hadn't done that, I would have been ahead of the accident and would never have known anything about it."

The vehicle reportedly collided on the A38 near Chudleigh just after 4pm on Sunday 27 June.

Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police attended, alongside paramedics and firefighters. Ambulance crews took the whole family to hospital, two were seriously injured.

The fire was seen engulfed in flames on the A38. Credit: BPM Media / Devon Live

Police closed the A38 in both directions to allow the emergency services to manage the scene but the northbound carriageway was reopened at around 6.15pm.

Firefighter Craig Jones also stopped to help at the scene. He said there was about one and a half minutes to rescue the family before the fire was fully developed.

Officers are asking those who witnessed the crash, have any information or dashcam footage to email 101@dc.police.uk or call 101, and quote log 646 of Sunday 27 June.

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