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WILKES-BARRE — Hours after Jay Fernandez helped two passengers and directed others to pull the driver from a vehicle that erupted in flames after a crash, he was back at work preparing for the opening of the restaurant he manages, Empanada King, in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Fernandez, of Wilkes-Barre, is one of at least three people who assisted three teenage girls involved in a fiery crash in the 200 block of Park Avenue in Wilkes-Barre Sunday night.
“I was walking out the front door of my girlfriend’s house and as soon as I opened up the door, I saw a car coming down the road and saw it smash in the back of a work utility truck. It was coming down the road and I could see the car just shift on its own and plow right into it,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez ran to the wrecked vehicle as two passengers were getting out. He said they were dazed from the impact.
“When I got over to the car, two young girls were getting out. They were confused to what was going on. They wouldn’t stay still,” Fernandez said. “I looked over and saw my girlfriend, daughter and step-daughter and had them take the girls into the house. I have two daughters, the same age, talk to them.”
While the two girls were in Fernandez’s girlfriend’s house, they called their mothers to let them know about the crash. One girl had blood on her, Fernandez said, but he didn’t know the extent of her injuries.
Fernandez said he noticed smoke coming from the wrecked vehicle and realized it was about to erupt in flames. He started yelling to others in the area to help the driver who remained inside the wreckage.
“When I got to the car, there was no flames. When I turned around, I saw the smoke and I yelled to other people on the street, ‘come help me, come help,’ we need to get her out, the car might explode, it’s on fire,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said he grabbed a fire extinguisher he emptied on the burning car. Another person also used a fire extinguisher, he said.
“We hit the car with fire extinguishers but it was too much for us,” Fernandez said, noting city firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze.
Fernandez said he believes the driver suffered minor injuries.
City police have not released information about the crash.
As for the Empanada King restaurant on Wilkes-Barre Township Boulevard, Fernandez said he expects the eatery to open in mid-to-late January or early February.
