Archerfield car crash leaves man in critical condition with burns

A bystander has suffered burns during a heroic act where he pulled a man from a flaming car on Brisbane’s south. VIDEO. WARNING: GRAPHIC

Witnesses of a fireball crash which left a driver fighting for life this afternoon have recalled the ear-piercing screams of the man who had been burnt from head to toe and how people rushed to save him.

ASV Sales and Service workers Tony Lincoln and Peter Archer ran to retrieve fire extinguishers seconds after hearing a “bang” outside their Boundary Rd, Archerfield, workplace about midday.

“Peter called me saying the car was on fire, we ran out with fire extinguishers and tried to put it out — the guy was already out of the car,” Mr Lincoln said.

“We came back for water, got the first aid kit and then the guy was laying down on the ground and kept screaming.”

The duo scrambled to find six extinguishes to deal with the fireball wreckage before tending to the driver of the car, who had been critically injured — his life saved by another driver who suffered burns as he hauled him from the blazing car.

A driver is critical after a fiery crash in Archerfield this afternoon. Picture: 9 News

“He just said he was on his way to work,” Mr Lincoln said of the good Samaritan.

“I just tried to keep (the victim) calm and put water on his burns, because he was burnt from head to toe,” Mr Lincoln said.

Mr Archer said recalled seeing “smoke everywhere” before hearing haunting screams.

“I could see, when I got there, the (other driver) with the burnt hands, he’d just finished pulling him out when I got there and had (the victim) on he ground.

Fire crews work to douse the flames after a fiery crash in Archerfield.

“And I could see his back, which was not good.”

He said the burns were like “black paper”.

“His face, his hair … his back …”

Mr Archer said he had been in the office when the crash happened and thought it was a telephone service box that exploded.

“Then I saw the car.

Zac Donnollan and Tony Lincoln from ASV Sales and Service. Picture: Georgie Walker

“Tony went out with the fire extinguishers, I grabbed a couple off the machines … and started putting them through the fence.”

Fellow ASV worker Chris Pine said the victim had to be doused with water by a firetruck appliance.

“It was horrible,” Mr Pine said.

“Sounded like a wild animal screaming. Just agony.

“Just like you hear in a movie, something screaming in the forest at night time.”

David Beres, a worker at neighbouring business Scully RSV Brisbane, said the driver was lucky to have survived.

Fire crews work to douse the flames after a fiery crash in Archerfield.

“I saw a huge plume of black smoke,” Mr Beres said.

“I saw two guys from ASV running along frantically around the corner one had a first aid

kit and the other had a bucket of water.

“Most of his body was burnt.

“I caught glimpses of him – certainly wasn’t pretty.

“Paramedics were really quick to come on scene, I could only image the pain he was in.

“One of the paramedics she had a bag of goodies in front of him and he was frantically

trying to reach for anything and everything.

“He was almost incoherent, how much pain he was in.”

A driver is critical after a fiery crash in Archerfield this afternoon. Picture: 9 News

The driver, a man in his 40s was taken in a critical condition to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital after the horrific crash.

He had been driving along Beaudesert Rd and Boundary St before crashing into a timber bollard at 12.36pm causing his car to burst into flames.

All emergency called to the crash site, included one critical care paramedic and an ambulance supervisor.

According to authorities, the driver sustained critical injuries with extensive burns across his body.

The bystander also suffered minor burns as he helped the driver out of his car, and was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a stable condition.

A QFES spokesman said the fire was put out at 1.03pm.

Emergency services have asked people to avoid the area.