Passerby saves trapped driver on S. State

A passerby armed with a fire extinguisher smothered a car fire and helped save a trapped man from further injury following a crash on the Southern State Parkway in North Massapequa on Tuesday, police said.

The driver of the wrecked car, Allen Jenkins, 55, of Farmingville, appeared to have suffered some sort of medical emergency before the crash on the eastbound parkway between Exits 30 and 31 shortly after 9:30 a.m., State Police said. Jenkins drove his 2000 Jeep Cherokee off the road into a stand of trees and struck a utility pole, police said. He was trapped in the wreck -- and the Jeep then caught on fire.

Police said a passerby, Pablo Lopez, 46, of Franklin Square, grabbed a fire extinguisher from his car and managed to extinguish the blaze.

Emergency responders later cut Jenkins from the wreckage, police said. He was airlifted to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow with a broken ankle, police said.

Police closed two lanes of the eastbound parkway for several hours, causing major delays during the morning rush hour. Police said the travel lanes have been reopened.