Shannon O’Neill-Gentry and Grant Gentry stopped at an El Dorado County crash and helped free a trapped woman as flames spread through her vehicle

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — An off-duty paramedic and her firefighter husband rescued an elderly woman from a burning vehicle after the car crashed into a tree along Highway 49 near Cool in El Dorado County.

Authorities said the woman lost control of the vehicle before it struck the tree and caught fire on Aug. 11.

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El Dorado County paramedic Shannon O’Neill-Gentry and her husband, firefighter Grant Gentry, were driving home when they came upon the burning vehicle, KCRA reported.

Bay Medic Ambulance EMTs Mason Ray and Rocco Lucchesi also stopped to help after spotting smoke coming from the vehicle as they traveled through the area, according to the department.

The couple reached the trapped woman as smoke and flames spread into the vehicle and worked to free her.

“The door would not open, and the dash had rolled over her, so we had to do some finagling to get her out through the window,” O’Neill-Gentry said.

Fire Capt. Rob Sime said the passenger compartment was engulfed in flames when crews arrived and credited the couple’s quick actions with saving the woman’s life.

The woman remains hospitalized, and officials have not released her condition.

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