Twin Cities driver bends car door to rescue man from fire

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. - A Woodbury man pried open a car door to save a man in a burning car alongside Interstate 35W in New Brighton on Sunday.
The Woodbury man, Bob Renning, 52, was southbound on I-35W near County Road D when he said he saw flames from beneath a car reflecting in his rearview and side mirrors shortly before 6:40 p.m.
The car was six or seven car lengths behind him, Renning said. Renning slowed down to get the driver’s attention.
The other driver, Michael Johannes of Minneapolis, pulled over around the same time Renning had reached him, Renning said.
Renning stopped about 250 feet in front of Johannes’ burning car, which was quickly filling with smoke.
Renning then told his girlfriend, who was in the car with him, to call 911, and he bolted toward the flames.
Johannes was trying to escape through the passenger side door, he said, as the car filled with smoke.
“I could hear him,” Renning said. “He was kicking and beating the window trying to break it open from the inside. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time.”
Renning then grabbed the top of the door frame and leveraged his body against it, pulling it until the window glass shattered.
Johannes confirmed no one else was inside, and both moved away from the flames.
Johannes suffered minor smoke inhalation and cuts and scrapes, the State Patrol said. Renning was not injured.
Johannes later told Renning his car was having electrical problems before it caught fire, and the speedometer had dropped to zero. It was locked from the inside when he tried to escape.