World

D.J. Harper, 4 Yrs. Old, Rescued From Burning SUV

by Jon Azpiri | July 21, 2009 at 04:02 pm

1681 views | 15 Recommendations | 3 comments

Four-year-old D.J. Harper was pulled out of a burning SUV by two off-duty firefighters and a police officer in Milwaukee.

Prior to the arrival of the off-duty firefighters, a group of strangers first helped a woman and girl escape after their SUV hit a tree and burst into flames. Then off-duty firefighters John Rechlitz and Joel Rechlitz helped out as did off-duty Milwaukee police officer Lt. Mark Wroblewski.

Without any protective gear, the Rechlitz brothers went inside the burning vehicle to try to free Harper. They were able to cut the boy loose from his seat belt.

On Monday, the city of Milwaukee honored John Rechlitz, Joel Rechlitz, and Mark Wroblewski for their heroic work.

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

158

at 16:20 on July 21st, 2009

The kid was very lucky.

This could have been tragic.

Blue Crush

at 17:02 on July 24th, 2009

This video was very hard to watch, but it reminds us of why our police and firefighters chose that profession in the first place.

“The car was engulfed in flames and the child was in there screaming. All I could see was that child’s face, [which] seemed just perfectly fine, but you could see the car seat around the child was burning. The child was literally burning in front of me.

“It was horrific,” he reiterated. “It compelled you to act.”

Yada (not verified)

at 06:24 on September 16th, 2009

It's great that the service people got their props for what they did but why is there no mention of the other people who were helping out? Shouldn't they all get recognition?