NEW JERSEY – A man who crashed into a tractor-trailer on the shoulder of I-287 in Mahwah, NJ owes his life to two police officers who rushed to the scene and extricated him from his SUV.

Officer Chris Lupo first arrived at the scene on the morning of Oct. 19, and within a minute, Lt. Mike Blondin stopped. A body-worn video camera shows them pulling the driver from the burning SUV just before the vehicle was fully engulfed.

“Loading him into the ambulance, we were very concerned about his long-term prognosis,” Blondin said.

At the scene, he was unresponsive. Paramedics worked on him en route to St. Mary’s University Medical Center. Joseph of Paterson. The driver, identified only as a 29-year-old Pearl River man, was released last week, police said.

“Every man and woman in this profession has a purpose to save lives and make a better community,” Lupo said. “And I think it’s just a testament to what we all signed up to do. And I don’t think anyone would hesitate to do it again.”