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A tiny voice was screaming.
Three vehicles had just collided in a fiery, deadly crash on Santiago Canyon Road north of Silverado Canyon Road on Thursday afternoon.
A local gardener, whose truck was involved in the collision, could see flames shooting out of a car. It was beginning to burn.
And then, he said on Friday, “I heard the child screaming.”
In a brief interview on a street in Costa Mesa, he recalled what happened: He reached in through a window of the car that was on fire, pulling the child from the backseat. Afterward, he said, he sat with the youngster in his arms until authorities arrived, speaking with them before they could be taken to the hospital.
His chest was still hurting, he said. He appeared distressed, and declined to give his name.
The crash, around 1 p.m., led to a roughly seven-hour closure of part of Santiago Canyon Road.
Firefighters could be seen dousing burned vehicles with water, including a white sedan and a stake-bed truck, in footage from freelance news videographer OnScene.TV.
One adult was pronounced dead at the scene, according to CHP officer Fernando Perez.
Witnesses described seeing the gardener rush to the car where the driver died, and as the car began to burn, pull a young child out and carry him to safety, Fox11 reported.
“What I observed was someone, appeared to be the driver, that very obviously had died,” witness John Thompson told the station. “That gentleman (the gardener) is a hero and saved that little child’s life.”
Part of Santiago Canyon Road remained closed in both directions until around 8:40 p.m., as investigators gathered evidence and crews worked to clear the scene.
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