A traffic stop along Highway 114 quickly turned into a life-saving rescue when a Southlake police officer pulled a driver from a burning vehicle before flames consumed the car. Southlake Police Department Cpl. Joshua Swisher had just stopped a Mercedes for speeding when he noticed another vehicle passing by with smoke coming from it. “It had to have been right time, right place kind of thing,” Swisher said. The smoking vehicle caught Swisher’s attention at the same time a call went out on his police radio about a car on fire. “Almost simultaneously, I see it out my left driver side window,” he said. Dash camera and body camera video captured Swisher running to the vehicle as flames erupted beneath it. “Get out, get out, get out, get out,” Swisher said. When he reached the car, Swisher said he first tried to open the driver’s door from the outside. “I tried to open the door from the outside – the door handle came off, and I was like ‘how am I going to get this guy out of the car?'” he said. Swisher then broke the window and pulled the stunned driver to safety. The rescue unfolded in less than 30 seconds. “Unfortunately, the car is not okay, but he was okay – and that’s the most important part,” Swisher said. Afterward, Swisher said reviewing the dash camera footage made him realize just how quickly the fire spread. “Just really happy the situation turned out as it did because the situation could have been a lot worse,” he said. The Southlake Police Department recently recognized Swisher with an award for his courageous actions. The department said the driver did not suffer any serious injuries. “That’s what we want to do – save lives. You talk to any officer that’s why they want to get in this profession,” Swisher said. “It’s always a similar answer. I want to help people. I want to be there for the community.” As for the driver Swisher originally stopped for speeding, the corporal said the citation never happened. “Oh, he got a warning – If I’m being honest, it was going to be a citation, but he got a warning,” Swisher said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less