OFF-DUTY FIREMAN HELPS SAVE 2 FROM FIERY CRASH.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

ACTON -- An off-duty Los Angeles firefighter was credited with helping save the lives of a Reseda couple whose car caught fire when it was rear-ended on the Antelope Valley Freeway, authorities said.

Capt. Todd Porter, who works at Los Angeles Fire Station 44 in Cypress Park, came upon the burning car shortly after the 5:15 a.m. Friday crash. Porter had all his firefighting equipment in his car, donned it, broke the window and got the people out.

Another driver also helped, said Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers.

Jose Mendes, 45, and Gloria Mendes, 55, were taken to Providence Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, officials said. Jose Mendes suffered a fractured left arm and Gloria Mendes had dificulty breathing, the California Highway Patrol said.

The CHP said the Mendeses' 1996 Honda Accord was traveling north on the freeway south of Pearblossom Highway when it was hit in the rear by a 2006 Nissan Armada traveling about 65 mph.

The Nissan's driver, identified as Calvin Williams, 40, of Palmdale, suffered what CHP officers described as minor injuries. The crash closed the northbound freeway lanes for nearly two hours.