HAMILTON TOWNSHIP -- A car fire in Monroe County shut down part of eastbound Interstate 80 for about an hour and a half on Tuesday morning.
It was just before 9:30 a.m. when many people were driving along Interstate 80 east near Bartonsville. A car burst into flames in the middle of the road and drivers rushed to help in any way they could.
Cell phone video shows a car on fire along eastbound Interstate 80 at the tail end of the morning rush hour.
Drivers nearby say it all seemed to happen in an instant.
"I was looking to my right and I saw someone stopped and all of a sudden I seen something explode," said Tobyhanna resident Brian Storm.
Paul Bidwell, a truck driver from New York, was already off on the side when he says, all of a sudden, a car hit him and then burst into flames. A piece of the car stuck to the back bumper.
"Pulled off the side of the road looking for directions, I looked in my mirror and saw this lady ran right directly into me."
Traffic headed east on I-80 came to a stop for about an hour and a half.
Brian Storm was riding his motorcycle with his friend. They were right behind the wreck. They rushed to help the driver
"She got out of the car by herself and we laid her down on the side of the highway, and then the car took off in flames, so we moved her away from the car and it caught on fire."
Storm says he didn't expect all this while out for a leisurely ride, but was happy to help while emergency crews were still on their way.
"I wanted to help somebody. I would want somebody to do the same for me, you know, in that situation."
Other drivers stuck in this traffic also jumped into action.
"I saw the smoke and everything and the gentleman asked me for the fire extinguisher. I gave them the fire extinguisher, and they got it sort of under control," said John Doss of Dingmans Ferry.
That gentleman was Randy Bergstresser of Saylorsburg who was on his way to work at a fire protection company. He rounded up about 10 fire extinguishers from other drivers and helped keep the flamed down.
"Everything happens for a reason and we were on this highway for a reason and all the good guys came together and we triumphed," said Randy Bergstresser of Kistler O'Brien Fire Protection.
The woman driving the car was taken to Pocono Medical Center. We do not know her condition, but drivers say she was alert and awake before leaving I-80.
