Cameraman who inspired 'Nightcrawler' in real-life rescue on L.A. freeway
Austin Raishbrook's work has inspired magazine profiles, a reality show, and Jake Gyllenhaal's character in the film Nightcrawler.
He's a cameraman in Los Angeles, a stringer known for his daring persistence. He gets up close to the action — whatever it takes to get the shot, often in the middle of the night.
But on New Year's Day, Mr. Raishbrook didn't just get close to the action. He jumped right in it, smack in the middle of an LA freeway.
"It was one of the most hair-raising things I've ever seen: an SUV stalled in the fast lane of a freeway at 3:30 in the morning with cars barrelling past it at 70, 80 miles an hour.- News cameraman Austin Raishbrook
Raishbrook spoke with As it Happens guest host Helen Mann from Lake Arrowhead, California. Here is part of their conversation.
Helen Mann: Austin Raishbrook, tell us first of all what you saw when you arrived on the scene of this incident on Saturday.
Austin Raishbrook: It was actually one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen. And one of the most hair-raising things I've ever seen. It was an SUV stalled in the fast lane of a freeway at 3:30 in the morning with cars barrelling past it at 70, 80 miles an hour.
HM: So what went through your mind at that moment? What did you do?
AR: My first instinct was to try and help as much as I could in that situation. So I pulled to the side of the freeway and put my emergency strobes on, alerting other drivers to the fact there's a hazard ahead. And at that point I was just waiting, hoping, praying that nothing bad was going to happen before the authorities got there. But unfortunately, well, you can see what happens in the video. It's pretty bad.
HM: So you were filming from what point on?
AR: So I pull across the freeway and I start filming from probably ... about 30 seconds to maybe a minute before the big crash. The car was hit previously, about 30 seconds prior to the big one. But yeah, I was rolling probably for a minute before the crash happened.
HM: Describe the big crash as you put it.
AR: The third vehicle that came along and made contact with it — it rear-ended the car. It didn't seem like he braked at all, probably going 60-65 miles an hour — just rear-ended the stalled vehicle. At that point, both cars spin across the freeway, the stalled vehicle hits the centre divider and just bursts into a ball of flames.
I put my camera down, ran to the back of my car, grabbed my fire extinguisher and my flashlight, and ran across the four lanes of freeway to see what I could do to help.- Austin Raishbrook
HM: What's going through your mind at that point?
AR: That's when I turned from cameraman into potential rescuer. I didn't actually know whether there was anybody in the car or not. But I wasn't going to sit back and take that chance and wait and find out. So I put my camera down, ran to the back of my car, grabbed my fire extinguisher and my flashlight, and ran across the four lanes of freeway to see what I could do to help.
HM: And are cars still barrelling along at that point?
AR: No, thankfully people have slowed down and stopped, so there is no movement on the freeway. That's the one thing I've seen quite frequently, is people get killed by running across freeways. I didn't want to be the next victim, so I was very careful at that point to make sure there was no traffic going.
I tried wrenching the door open — couldn't quite manage it. Tried smashing the window — didn't work.- Austin Raishbrook
HM: So you get over to this burning car with your fire extinguisher. What do you see then?
AR: I see the car fully engulfed in flames. I couldn't see inside the car because of the smoke and fire. So I smashed the passenger side window. I could kind of see the driver, unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel. So I ran around to the driver's side — it was quite awkward to get to because it was kind of up against the centre divider. But I tried wrenching the door open — couldn't quite manage it. Tried smashing the window — didn't work. I finally got the door open, and I was met with huge billowing smoke — flames coming out of the top of the car.
HM: So did that push you back?
AR: Well, I knew I didn't have much time to help him. So I actually leant in, around his waist, tried to undo his buckle — but I did get overcome by the thick smoke at that level. So I leant out of the car, leant over the centre divider, took a deep breath, went back into the car, managed to pull down his shoulder belt and grab him 'round the waist, pull him out from underneath his belt, drag him onto the floor and then pull him away from the car.
HM: Was he heavy and hard to get out of the car once you freed the belt?
I could kind of see the driver, unconscious, slumped over the steering wheel.- Austin Raishbrook
AR: No, he was actually a smaller guy, maybe a mid-size guy. Had he been a much bigger guy it would have been a much harder task for me to get him out.
HM: How long was it before ambulance or fire got to the scene?
AR: It felt like an eternity. But I guess in reality it was probably three to four minutes.The highway patrol turned up. They assisted me. They secured the scene to make sure there was no imminent danger. When they arrived the car did start exploding again. The tires were going up. So the advised me to pull him further away. My main concern at that point was I didn't want to aggravate an injury he may have had. I didn't know if he had any neck injuries, back injuries or anything like that. The worse thing you can do is move somebody in that situation. So we kept him in that position. And then the fire department turned up a couple of minutes later.
HM: You said when we started this conversation this is the most harrowing thing you've seen. And you've seen a lot of difficult and dangerous things in your line of work. Have you ever gotten involved before like this?
AR: Not to this extent. We do arrive on scene of things before the fire department and the police quite a few times. However, this is really the first life-and-death situation where I've been in the right place at the right time to be able to help.
It was a very active situation. It could have gone a lot worse. I certainly don't consider myself a hero. I was doing what needed to be done.- Austin Raishbrook
HM: Do you think it was just a case of your instincts kicking in? Did you have to think it over before you jumped in to help?
AR: It's a good question. I've been doing this for 20 years and I wouldn't say that I rehearsed the situation. I've certainly gone in over the scenario in my head of what I would do in case this happens. And it was one of those times where I knew what to do. And thankfully, I had just enough time to do it.
HM: Would you do it again? Would you advise others to do what you've just done?
AR: I would certainly do it again. However, advising people to do it? It was a very active situation. It could have gone a lot worse. I wouldn't say I thought about my personal safety, really. But I needed to make sure that other people were not injured and that the situation didn't get worse. I got a lot of praise for what I did, but I certainly don't consider myself a hero. I was doing what needed to be done.
For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Austin Raishbrook.