“Oh my God,” the resident recording exclaims as flames engulf a vehicle. A sharp explosion rings out, blowing sparks and flames up and out. “Oh!” they cry out, startled. Thankfully, the driver, who suffers from dementia and crashed in the Lilburn, Georgia neighborhood, was just rescued seconds before.

Early in the morning, before sunrise, Matt Forrester and his wife woke suddenly to a neighbor telling them of a car accident. They went out to see. Sure enough, a car engulfed in tall flames sat between two homes.

The driver, an elderly man suffering from severe dementia, was trapped inside.

Forrester, a dad and youth soccer and lacrosse coach, didn’t hesitate. While his wife expressed concern for his safety, she says she knew he was trying to save a life.

A resident recorded Forrester dashing into the flames and coming out of the tree-filled landscape holding up the elderly driver. They walked to safety just before the other resident taped the explosion.

The driver told responders that he was looking for his wife. While it’s unknown how he had access to the car and whether he was licensed, the incident is a grim reminder of the risks of driving in a disoriented condition.

Local Atlanta news station 11 Alive gave families some pointers about addressing elderly family members and waning driving skills. It’s important to take the car keys away once a driver shows certain signs. Confusion, like getting lost on the way home from a grocery store, is a solid red flag. Obvious errors, like running red lights and stop signs, are another.

In this case, the driver survived, thanks to the Georgia dad. The car burned to a totalled crisp. Continuing to operate a vehicle with conditions like dementia can cause preventable car accidents, injuries, and death.