Iowa man saved by police from car fire (Video)

You could say it was it was faith and greater blessing from playing in the holy backyard on holy Sunday that saved his life, but it was a fortunate night for one Urbandale citizen.

Just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, Urbandale police offers on patrol pulled 18-year-old Ian Waseskuk from a burning vehicle in the Urbandale Baptist Church parking lot.

According to the Urbandale Patch, investigations by Community Relations Officer Randy Peterson and the rest of Urbandale Police Department prompt Peterson to believe Waseskuk was “doing doughnuts” in his car in the church parking lot, and the vehicle slammed into the church’s air conditioning system around 10:35 p.m. knocking Waseskuk unconscious and lighting the car on fire.

In the video below, you can see 30-year-old Officer Zac McDowell smashing the passenger window with his baton, but the mixture of smoke and snow obstruct his view. Passerby Nick Schroeder, a 22-year-old Iowa State University student, who was walking his dog, ran to assist the officer after he noticed the commotion and dragged Waseskuk’s body away from the burning vehicle.

The smoke cloud was “enough to take your breath away. There was smoke from the floor board to the roof of the car,” McDowell told newspapers, according to Des Moines Register.

Urbandale medics rushed Waseskuk to Mercy Hospital Medical Center where his condition is still pending. His 1995 Buick that he crashed and burned is unrecoverable, and the crash destroyed $10,000 to church property. Waseskuk will most likely be charged for reckless driving once his condition has stabilized and he has been checked out of the hospital.

Video courtesty of Urbandale Patch