A firefighter who was on his way to a charity event with his son was nearly hit by a truck before he witnessed a six-car fiery crash in Torrance Saturday and had to jump in and help victims.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
"Just blew right by us and missed us by probably by 10 inches," Tad Friedman, a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Torrance, said.
The collision was reported at 1:40 p.m. in the 3300 block of Civic Center Drive, according to the Torrance Police Department.
Police said a truck was driving westbound on Torrance Boulevard at a high rate of speed when it struck a tree, several vehicles and a power pole near Madrona Avenue. The truck landed upside down and burst into flames.
Friedman, a firefighter for 30 years, said his day off turned into an emergency response after he and his 9-year-old son Shane witnessed the wreck.
Friedman was one of dozens of firefighters who were volunteering about 100 yards away from the crash.
"Instincts just kicked in," Friedman said. "Any firefighter on duty or off duty would do the same thing I did."
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The firefighters were attending a dinner to raise money for child burn victims.
"Everybody poured out of the spaghetti dinner," Friedman said. "Probably 10 to 15 of our off-duty firefighters came out."
One person in the truck was pronounced dead at the scene, fire officials said.
Four people were treated by paramedics, fire officials said.
The collision was under investigation.
