KITSAP COUNTY, Washington — A sheriff’s deputy who had been pursuing a speeding driver helped pull that same man from a burning SUV after the vehicle crashed, while officers from two tribal police departments joined the rescue and one used a fire extinguisher against the flames.

KIRO 7 reported Sept. 23 that the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office released body-camera video from the Sept. 21 incident. The footage, as described by the station, shows smoke in the air and the trapped driver calling for help after the crash.

The pursuit ended beyond a fence

According to the sheriff’s office account carried by KIRO 7, a deputy attempted to stop a driver traveling about 20 mph over the speed limit on State Route 104. The driver did not stop and reached speeds as high as 111 mph before the deputy lost sight of the SUV.

Tire tracks later led law enforcement to the crash area on Miller Bay Road Northeast. The SUV had gone through a fence, struck a tractor in a yard and caught fire with the driver trapped inside.

KOMO’s Sept. 23 account said Kitsap County deputies and officers from the Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam police departments broke windows, fought the fire and worked to free the man. Their mission had changed in seconds: the enforcement action became an immediate effort to save a life.

A flashlight became an entry tool

Fox News reported that the deputy first broke the driver-side window with a flashlight. When the man said he could not get out that way, the deputy moved to the passenger side and repeatedly struck the door handle as flames grew around the front of the SUV.

A Port Gamble police officer arrived with a fire extinguisher and knocked down the flames. The body-camera sequence then showed officers pulling the man from the damaged vehicle, according to the reports.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews treated the driver and prepared him for an airlift to a hospital because of the severity of his injuries. Authorities did not identify him in the reports reviewed by ThinBlueNews, and this article does not publish his name.

Rescue first, charges after recovery

Authorities said the driver could face allegations of attempting to elude an officer and reckless driving after he recovers. Those are anticipated allegations, not convictions, and the available reports did not describe a filed case disposition.

Local reports differed on the approximate starting time and nearby place name: KIRO 7 described about 10:30 p.m. near Poulsbo, while KOMO reported about 11:30 p.m. in Kingston. ThinBlueNews is not choosing between those details without a directly accessible incident record. The reports agree that the rescue followed a late-night Sept. 21 pursuit on State Route 104 and a crash off Miller Bay Road Northeast in north Kitsap County.

The larger public-safety fact is not in dispute across the three accounts: personnel from multiple civilian law-enforcement agencies went directly into a hazardous fire rescue. They used what they had — a flashlight, an extinguisher and coordinated physical effort — until firefighters could take over medical care.

Police officers sometimes must preserve evidence, detain a person and manage a dangerous crash scene at once. In this case, the immediate priority was simpler and more urgent: get the trapped driver away from the fire. The expected charging process could wait until after he was alive and receiving treatment.

This story is part of ThinBlueNews’s coverage of police rescue news and positive police news involving civilian law-enforcement agencies.

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews checked its complete local article collection and found no prior report about this Kitsap County rescue. The reporting outlets displayed body-camera frames and crash photographs attributed to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, but ThinBlueNews did not establish a public-domain status, transferable license or permission record for republication. Those pixels were not copied. The featured image is original, photo-independent symbolic artwork and does not depict the officers, driver, SUV, crash, equipment used in the incident or rescue.