Rui Gouveia said he was acting entirely on instinct late Tuesday night when he rushed to a burning car on Mendall Road and pulled three young people out of the vehicle.

ACUSHNET — Rui Gouveia said he was acting entirely on instinct late Tuesday night when he rushed to a burning car on Mendall Road and pulled three young people out of the vehicle.



"My concern was I didn't know if there was a fuel leak and I was worried about an explosion," said the 41-year-old corrections officer from Fairhaven.



"It was my instincts. As soon as I saw the fire, I said, 'I have to pull them out,' " he said.



He was dressed in his uniform as he headed to work at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater when he rushed to aid the occupants.



Gouveia, who has a wife and a 14-year-old son, said his first thought was that the occupants had died because of the severity of the crash he witnessed, and his thoughts went to their families.



Their car, which was traveling north, passed Gouveia at the bend on Mendall Road seconds before the crash at about 10 p.m.



"When it hit the tree, it went up about five feet in the air and it landed upside down," he said. "As soon as the car landed upside down, I saw the fire coming out of the engine."



It is the exact same location where an Acushnet man was killed and two of his passengers were injured in an accident four years ago, said Detective James Costa.



Gouveia said he reached for his cellphone to call for help, but dropped it and ran to the car instead. Then neighbors came outside and he asked them to call 911.



He said he did not hear any noise and he could not see any movement in the 2003 Chevrolet Malibu because of the darkness when he reached their car.



"I yelled to them, 'Get out, get out, there's a fire,' " he said.



The occupants were conscious but groggy from the collision, he said.



Gouveia said the car doors were locked and police said the occupants were all seat-belted, but the driver's side window was open and that was the opening he used to pull out the three occupants.



As he pulled them out by their arms, their shoulders and the back of their shirts, he said he worried that there were others in the car or perhaps another occupant had been ejected.



"It's amazing. I wasn't even thinking about my personal safety. I was just thinking about someone else," said Gouveia.



Within seconds of getting the occupants from the car, he said the vehicle burst into flames.



Police and fire officials are calling Gouveia, who was not injured in the rescue, a hero.



"Firefighters and police officers reported to me that Mr. Gouveia simply saved three lives," said Fire Chief Kevin Gallagher. "There is no doubt in their minds that this incident would have had a more tragic ending had Mr. Gouveia not intervened."



"Anytime a civilian places himself in harm's way to aid another is beyond commendable," he said.



"If he wasn't there, it would be a different outcome," Costa said.



Costa said the driver, Jacob Swift, 20, of 39 Bridge St., Fairhaven, and a female rear passenger, Jade Winterson, 19, of 187 Alden Road, Fairhaven, were transported to Rhode Island Hospital.



A front-seat passenger, Jonathan Gardner, 18, of 73 Oliver St., Fairhaven, refused medical attention, police said.



A spokeswoman at Rhode Island Hospital said Winterson is in fair condition, while Swift was treated and released.



Police said Swift will be summonsed into New Bedford District Court at a later date to face charges of operating under the influence of alcohol, operating a motor vehicle to endanger and passing in a no-passing zone.



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