ROXBURY TOWNSHIP, NJ (Morris County) – Two New Jersey Department of Transportation workers were honored Friday for saving a driver from a fiery crash that occurred on Interstate 80 in Roxbury Township in February.
Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Callahan, Deputy Superintendent of Operations, and Richard Hammer, NJDOT Commissioner, honored New Jersey Department Transportation workers Michael Lapadula and Jared Piazza for their life saving efforts during a motor vehicle accident.
On February 28, around 10:00 a.m., Lapadula and Piazza were traveling on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive Township when they witnessed a motor vehicle accident, on Interstate 80 near mile marker 28, involving a car that ran off of the highway. After leaving the roadway, the car hit a sign, overturned, and came to rest back onto the highway. The crash left the driver entrapped moments before the car became engulfed in flames.
While the engine compartment of the vehicle was on fire, Lapadula retrieved a fire extinguisher from his car and suppressed that flames. They then used a knife to cut the injured driver out of his seatbelt and they both dragged him out of the back door of the car.
Lapadula and Piazza put their lives on the line to save the life of another. If not for their quick and decisive actions, the driver, in all likelihood, would not have survived the crash.
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By: Jay Edwards Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook
(Photos Courtesy: New Jersey State Police)
(Photo: Jay Edwards/WRNJ)