Monterey >> Two women and two children were rescued by a California Highway Patrol officer when the car they were in caught fire Monday morning in Monterey.

CHP officer Kaleo Clissold happened to be driving behind the vehicle on southbound Highway 1 at about 10 a.m.

Herald photographer Vern Fisher was behind both vehicles before the fire started and was able to follow and record video of the action as it unfolded.

“I was behind the CHP when all of a sudden I just saw an explosion of smoke and flames” coming from under the hood of the car, Fisher said. “The lights (on the patrol car) went on and the car pulled onto the exit but didn’t immediately stop.”

Fisher said he could see the distressed car dropping flaming, smoking pieces on the road as it crept to the Bay Park Hotel at 1425 Munras Ave. in Monterey before pulling into the parking lot and coming to a stop.

“We heard a thump and I looked back and saw flames,” said Jenny Torre, a passenger in the car. She said she told her mom to get off the freeway fast.

Torre said they exited the freeway and pulled into the parking lot. She said she got out, tried to open the back door in a panic but could not.

“My first instinct was to get them out and those photos don’t exist,” she said.

That is when the officer told her to get away from the car while he took over.

“He runs up to the driver side but (the driver) can’t get out because the door doesn’t open,” said Oscar Loza, a California Highway Patrol spokesman, relaying what Clissold reported to him.

As Clissold yelled at the driver to get out he realized there were children in the back seat, said Loza.

The officer pulled one crying, coughing child from the car while yelling at the passenger who had exited the car on her own: “Here, take your kid!” before he went back to pull the second screaming child from the smoking car.

In the video, Clissold can be seen reaching from the passenger side to unlock the back door before pulling the child to safety.

Loza said the children were in car seats.

The driver escaped by climbing over to the passenger side and exiting the car.

“Come here! Your car’s on fire!” Clissold screamed as the driver walked away from the smoking vehicle.

Abraham Torre said his mother and sister were the adult occupants in the car along with his niece, who is 2 years old, and his nephew from another sister, who is 1 year old.

Torre said he wanted to get in touch with Clissold and thank him for his valor for saving his relatives.

“It could have ended so much worse,” said Torre.

“They were scared. … You’re in shock. … It’s a different situation for everyone,” Torre said in response to negative social media comments, some of which were critical of the two women.

Torre said his mother, who was driving, told him she had no idea what was happening. By the time they pulled into the hotel parking lot they could hear the officer over his loudspeaker telling them to get out of the car, which added to the distress.

The car was filling with smoke as the women tried to get out. The passenger got out, but the driver could not get her door open.

Captain Bill Perlstein of the CHP was proud of the way Clissold handled the dangerous situation.

“What stands out is how the kids could have suffered a potentially deadly situation,” said Perlstein. “I am so proud of the officer.”

The CHP captain said in looking at the video and talking to the officer he realized how close everyone involved came to calamity. Perlstein said viewing the images filled him with emotion.

“To go into that situation, a car fire, smoke-filled vehicle, and to pull those kids to safety; … it’s amazing. … It makes me feel glad,” he said.

Lucia Torre, mother of the two children, said her mother, sister and kids were on their way to pick her up in Pacific Grove when the car caught fire. She said she also wants to thank Clissold for saving her kids, mother and sister.

“He is an angel. I just want to say thank you,” said Torre. “It’s just a miracle, I know that. The fact he was right behind them was an act of God.”

All four occupants were treated on scene by fire and ambulance personnel and taken to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula as a precaution because of smoke inhalation, according to Loza.

Torre said his relatives were treated, released and recovering at home.

By the time Monterey Fire Department firefighters were on scene, they doused the smoldering vehicle with water and the car was later towed away to be dealt with by the owners at another time.

According to Jenny Torre, everyone is fine now and the children will follow up with their doctor to make sure everything is OK.

James Herrera can be reached at 831-726-4344.