Bob Renning, 52, pulled up on a freeway in Minnesota to help another vehicle that was filling with smoke.

 

He told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he was not sure how he bent² the door open far enough to shatter the window glass.

 

Police officer Zachary Hill was first to the scene and full of praise for Mr Renning's "extraordinary" heroics.

 

"He did an extraordinary deed, bending a locked car door in half, of a burning car, to extricate³（解救） a trapped person," said Hill.

 

Mr Renning, a member of the US National Guard, said he sprinted⁴（冲刺，短跑） towards the vehicle as he saw flames and smoke "rolling around" the SUV. His girlfriend called 911.

 

After he realised the vehicle was locked and the windows would not work, Mr Renning gripped the top of the door frame with his fingers, braced⁵ his foot against the door and pulled, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

 

The man in the vehicle, Michael Johannes, said he did not realise someone was trying to save him as he held his breath in the smoke-filled car.

 

He suffered minor⁶ smoke inhalation and light cuts from being pulled through the shattered window. 

 

"Thirty seconds later and I would have been done," Mr Johannes said. "It was a good thing I didn't have my family in there."

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