Iowa Police Pull Man from Burning Car,
HARRIS: There's a car engulfed in flames and someone trapped inside, but the flames aren't enough to keep two Ames police officers from putting their lives on the line. Reporter Angie Hunt of CNN affiliate KCCI in Des Moines has the story.</s>LT. JEFF BRINKLEY, AMES, IOWA POLICE: When I got there, the vehicle was fairly well engulfed in flames at least on the rear half of the vehicle. It looked to me like somebody stole it and maybe wrecked it and walked away from it. It was kind of hard to tell.</s>ANGIE HUNT, KCCI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not knowing if anyone might be trapped inside this burning car, Lieutenant Jeff Brinkley knew he had to get a better look.</s>BRINKLEY: The thing was just filled with smoke and I couldn't see at all.</s>HUNT: So Brinkley started breaking windows hoping to vent the car, but still couldn't see through the thick black smoke. It's all captured on the dashboard cam inside Brinkley's car.</s>HUNT: That's when Officer Clint Hertz arrived. He immediately rushed to open the passenger door and quickly realized someone was inside.</s>OFC. CLINT HERTZ, AMES, IOWA POLICE: I wasn't thinking too much, other than just, there's somebody in there. We've got to get them out.</s>HUNT: It took a few seconds for Hertz to free the driver, 21-year old Justin Halberg (ph) from his seat belt and drag him from the car. Halberg was unresponsive but alive.</s>BRINKLEY: One of the doctors that treated the patient said that he estimated he had 30 to 60 more seconds before he would have succumbed to the smoke inhalation.</s>HUNT: After pulling Halberg to safety, Officer Hertz went back to see if anyone else was still in the car. Watch closely as Hertz puts his head back inside the vehicle and you see a small burst of flames right in front of his face.</s>HERTZ: I never noticed how much the car just went up in a ball of fire after we got him out. It was real quick, probably 20 seconds and then it was completely engulfed.</s>BRINKLEY: I went back and looked at the tape, from the time that I got out of the car to the time that little poof kind of went over Clint's head was, like, 62 seconds. Start to finish. To go back and look at that from the third-person perspective was really kind of sobering to me in that we were really close, knowing full well that there was risk to us as well at that point.</s>HARRIS: Whoa. Once again, that was Angie Hunt from our affiliate KCCI. The driver was treated for smoke inhalation but he wasn't burned. Meantime Officers Hertz and Brinkley will receive the award of valor next week, the highest honor an officer can receive. And a quick reminder, one of those brave officers, Lt. Jeff Brinkley, will be a guest Monday right here on CNN. Check out Monday's NEWSROOM PM to hear Lt. Brinkley talk more about that dramatic rescue. NEWSROOM PM airs from 1:00 until 4:00 Eastern every weekday afternoon right here on CNN. A couple of surprises on the campaign trail today. Good news for Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton. Not so much for everyone else. One more look coming up next.