‘Happy to help’: 2 military students helped douse burning car with driver trapped inside

It turns out something good came out of Team Canada’s early elimination from the World Junior Championship on Thursday night.

Had Czechia not scored in the dying seconds of the game to prevent overtime, Jaiden Brown may not have stepped outside to cool off and a man may have died in a fiery crash in East York.

Brown was watching the game with friends and angrily bolted for the door to have a cigarette with military college classmate, Cameron Whiddon after Canada’s loss sunk in.

“I take one pull off my dart and then we hear this bang,” he told CityNews on Friday. “I thought ‘that doesn’t sound good.’ “

It wasn’t.

A black Ford Mustang had lost control and crashed into a concrete barrier near Moore and Bayview avenues.

The car burst into flames, with the driver, a man believed to be in his 30s, trapped inside.

Upon hearing the crash, Brown and Whiddon, both aged 20, sprinted a few blocks to the shocking scene of the wreckage.

“We get on scene and there’s like two-foot flames coming out of the hood,” Brown explained.

“My buddy (Cameron) instantly worked on venting the windows and getting some fresh air and getting the smoke out.”

With help from two other men who stopped their car, the brave foursome ran to get fire extinguishers from a nearby Loblaws and a residence across the street.

Two women who also witnessed the crash called 911.

“We used the fire extinguishers to put out the flames,” Brown explained.

Brown and Whiddon are both third-year students at Royal Military College in Kingston, and their training kicked in.

They checked the man’s vital signs, checked to see if he was breathing, and secured the perimeter.

“He was still conscious, but not much there,” Brown said, adding that whole ordeal transpired in about 10 tense minutes.

Fire crews and paramedics showed up shortly after, and the driver was extricated from the charred vehicle and taken to hospital with critical injuries.

Police say thanks to the actions of the Good Samaritans, he did not suffer life-altering injuries and his injuries are no longer considered life-threatening.

There’s no word yet on whether the driver will face charges.

Both Brown and Whiddon were treated for smoke inhalation and discharged.

“We did what we did and what we could and what we’re trained to do,” Brown said.

“We’re happy that he’s doing OK, and there’s no serious, long-term injuries. We are just happy to help, I don’t think we did anything special.”

With files from Lucas Casaletto