VIDEO: Fire chief pulls unconscious man from burning car in Pennsylvania

YORK TOWNSHIP, PA (KTRK) -- A fire chief is being hailed as a hero after pulling a man from a burning vehicle in Pennsylvania.

The rescue was caught on camera Monday after a car slammed into a utility pole.

The dash cam video shows smoke and flames coming from the rear of a car that crashed along Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township.

It was a morning full of surprises for witness Gary Gregory and his wife.

"My wife heard the thump and I was downstairs in the rec room and she said, 'Come up here right away.' So i came up, went out the door and saw the car starting to burn."

Gary's wife called 911.

"I wanted to try to go down and get something to put the fire out with but I didn't have nothing because I didn't want the guy to burn up in there," Gregory says.

A short time later, York Township Fire Chief Nate Tracey was first on scene and he took immediate action. Gary watched as it unfolded all from his front yard.

"He got the guy out and luckily he did or the guy would have died," Gregory says.

You can see Chief Tracey without his fire gear on pulling what appears to be an unconscious man out of the car and dragging him to safety.

We spoke with the chief by phone, but declined to go on camera.

Still, it's a scene that will remain fresh in Gary's mind going forward.

"With the gas tank burning, it was burning right under the gas tank. It could have blown up anytime," Gregory says. "It was his job, but he is a hero as far as I am concerned."

No word on the condition of the driver. He was hospitalized after the accident.