A Howell Township police officer risked his own life over the weekend to save the driver of a burning car, and the dramatic rescue was all caught on video.

Patrolman Nicholas Volpe came across the fiery crash Saturday around 7:45 p.m. on Manassa Road.

In the video, Volpe can be seen running to the driver's side of the burning car that was smashed up against the tree, grabbing the man and dragging him away from the scene. 

“Very rare for an officer to roll up on scene before he gets called,” says Police Chief Andrew Kudrick. “Recognized it was a car on fire, got out, saw there was a driver, tried to get the driver out. The driver was trapped, could not do, so officer Volpe reached in physically, pulled him out of the window. Kudrick arrived moments later.

“The driver was disoriented, it was not impairment,” says Kudrick. The driver was coming back from a family member who had perished, he was on his cellphone. There was that curve right there. He was looking down and impacted the tree.”

Kudrick says the driver would not have survived the fire much longer if Volpe had not been on scene.

“The majority of the public realizes what we do because when you post something like this, you do get the recognition,” says Kudrick. “They realize that, but it's always good to show firsthand what these officers are doing on an everyday basis.”

Kudrick says the driver is doing fine and was only slightly injured. He was seen limping, but walking away with the officer’s help. Volpe was not hurt and will be back on patrol tonight.