The driver was unable to open the door because it had been stuck in the accident, when a tractor-trailer allegedly ran a red light.
It was a race against time as a group of good Samaritans in Georgia worked to free a mother and her child from a burning car.
They were soon joined by Officer Dow Turrentine of the Rome Police Department, who got to work smashing the car's windows with his baton to let smoke escape. "My first priority is getting whoever's in the vehicle out".
The driver was unable to open the door because it had been stuck in the accident, when a tractor-trailer allegedly ran a red light.
Her 4-year-old son was also trapped in the backseat.
"The door handle was broken off and the vehicle was locked so we couldn't open the door from the outside," Turrentine tells Inside Edition.
One of those good Samaritans, electrician Chris Jones, tells Inside Edition that he could hear the young boy in the backseat "screaming" while he and others worked to free the pair.
"They were both scared to death," says Jones.
It took only a few minutes before the entire car was engulfed in flames, but by then both passengers had been rescued and taken to safety.
Mom suffered a broken leg while her son managed to avoid any major injuries.
"My first thought was I'm extremely glad the child got out," says Turrentine.
