BROOKLINE, MA — An off-duty firefighter was in the right place at the right time Wednesday night when a couple accidentally drove their car off a pier in Charlestown. He was able to call 911, get bystanders to help secure the wobbly car and get the two of them out of harm's way.

Brookline Firefighter Brian Mulkern was at the Pier 6 restaurant before a night class at Bunker Hill College. He heading to class when he heard a loud bang and people shouting for help. He ran toward the car, which had gone over a metal and concrete barrier and perched nose-down on a small dock below. He shouted for bystanders to call 911, ran down the access ramp to the dock and got two men to help hold on to the back of the car, which was moving as the water moved the dock. He helped the woman out of the passenger side car and got her to safety. To get to the driver out safely, Mulkern had to hang out over the water.

"It was rocking so much," said Mulkern, who joined the fire department in 2013. "It was a time-sensitive thing; I didn't want the car to slip." Courtesy Brookline Fire Mulkern said the two were a little shaken up, but grateful for his help. He said the driver told him he thought he was going in reverse.

"I'm just glad they're OK and everything worked out," said Mulkern, who made it to class on time but chose not to tell anyone about what he'd just done. "I mean, it's just natural," he said.

It did come up the next day at work, though. And when coworkers at the Brookline Fire Department found out they kept pushing him for details. That's how the department came to recognize him and his heroism on Facebook.

"They keep asking me why don't you tell us more?" he said, brushing it off.

The little dock that the car landed on was supposed to have been moved the week or two before, but for some reason hadn't yet. Had the dock not been there, the outcome may have been very different. "That's some serious luck," said Mulkern.