A Minnesota man by the name of Bob Renning is being regarded as a own hero after he risked his life to save the life of a man trapped inside a burning SUV.

Renning was southbound on I-35W in Minneapolis when he saw in his mirrors flames shooting out from beneath an SUV six or seven car-lengths behind him. He slowed to get the drivers attention and they both pulled over at the same time, with Renning stopping about 250 feet in front of the burning vehicle.

“He was kicking and beating the window trying to break it open from the inside,” Renning said. “I knew I didn’t have a lot of time.”

Johannes, the owner of the SUV, said he knew he was in trouble when his brakes started to give out and the vehicle began filling up with smoke as he drove down the freeway at 65 mph. Once he stopped, he said, he realized that the door locks refused to open, the reason he said later, an electrical malfunction.

Since flames had begun to engulf the driver’s side, Johannes  scrambled to the passenger side, kicking at the window. 

Luckily, Renning was there to save the day. Grabbing the top of the door frame and leveraging his body against it, Renning pulled until the glass completely shattered.

Minnesota State Patrol trooper Zachary Hill, who was at the scene, said in a statement: “(Renning) did an extraordinary deed, bending a locked car door in half … to extricate a trapped person, I feel this man deserves any and all commendation for his extraordinary life-saving measure that kept another from burning alive.”

Renning, an active member of the Air National Guard, said he had “no clue” where his strength came from.

“I’m sure it was pure adrenaline,” he said, adding that he left the scene without a scratch.