Two 18-year-old high school students are being hailed as heroes after pulling a trapped driver from a burning vehicle following a crash near Mooney’s Bay Thursday night. David Kozniewski and Aiden Acres, both students at Nepean High School, were driving down Riverside Drive shortly after 6:30 p.m. when they spotted an overturned car on fire near the railroad underpass. “We are heading down Riverside Drive, we had just finished working, and I saw a car on the side of the road flipped upside down on fire,” said Kozniewsk. “I looked at Aiden and I was pretty shocked.” Acres adds that he “was honestly pretty worried.” “I’ve seen videos in the past of engine fires in cars that haven’t ended well, where they explode,” Acres said. The pair immediately ran toward the crash. The 17-year-old driver, the only person in the vehicle, appeared to had ended up in the back seat after the car rolled. Despite the flames, Kozniewski climbed in through a broken window and helped the teen escape. “I quickly hopped in,” he says. “I asked him if he was hurt, and then I pulled the headrest off of the seat, and then I helped him out.” Meanwhile, Acres helped from outside the car. He says the victim had many cuts on his face. “I was just making sure David was alright in the car,” said Acres. ”And we pulled the guy out. Thankfully, it ended really well.” Emergency crews arrived within three minutes. Firefighters used specialized tools to remove the passenger doors and extinguish flames that had spread into the dashboard area. They also applied absorbent material to contain leaking fuel. Paramedics treated the driver at the scene and transported him to hospital. “He was assessed by paramedics,” said Marc-Antoine Deschamps with the Ottawa Paramedic Service. “He sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital in stable condition.” Riverside Drive was closed between Walkley Road and Hunt Club Road while police investigated. The road reopened later that night. Police confirmed no charges will be laid in connection with the crash. “It’s not what we recommend to do,” said Nick DeFazio with Ottawa Fire Services. “But very courageous of both these young students who I spoke to today and I did ask them if they had any interest in firefighting.” As for a future in firefighting, neither is ruling it out. “I feel like it’s an interesting job,” said Kozniewski. “We’ll see where things go.” Acres agrees, saying: “I really respect what firefighters do, having to deal with that kind of stuff on the regular. It’s definitely a very interesting job I could see myself doing in the future.” For now, when they’re not in class, the two friends also run a small business together. “We run a mobile detailing company called Ottawa Detailing,” Kozniewski said. “We started about a year ago and it’s been going really well.” At school, the reaction was swift, cheers of “hero” followed them through the halls. But the teens insist they simply did what anyone should. “It’s just a natural instinct to go out and help,” said Kozniewski. “I know I’d be very grateful if someone did that for me,” Acres added. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
