Ex-Cop Helps 80-Year-Old Escape Flaming Truck In Daring Chick-Fil-A Rescue

Like any other company, Chick-fil-A has generated its fair share of news stories. Quite a few headlines are focused on the company's employees and the lengths they go to serve customers. They have a reputation for being "the most polite in the industry" (via Business Insider) and for good reason. Whether it's Chick-fil-A workers responding with "my pleasure" to customer requests or their policy of asking customers if they can "clear their tray" at the end of a meal, they practically drip courtesy. But they have also been known to go above and beyond in many ways that don't just involve food.

For instance, one Chick-fil-A employee braved oncoming traffic to deliver fries a customer forgot. And in an even wilder feat, the owner of an Alabama Chick-fil-A and his employees once helped people stranded in their cars during a snowstorm by allowing some to take cover in the restaurant and providing meals to those stuck on the interstate (via WBRC). Of course, some Chick-fil-A tales involve good deeds by folks who don't work there. In a recent example, it was apparently actually a customer's pleasure to save the day.

As recounted by Fox23 News, at a Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a passenger in line saw that pickup in front of him was starting to flare out and smoke from under its hood. Meanwhile, the truck's 80-year-old driver, John Price, was struggling to get out of the vehicle. Fortunately for Price, the person who spotted him was a former cop and aspiring nurse: Curtis McLaughlin. In an act of pure bravery, McLaughlin leaped out of his own car to help Price escape the truck before the engine fire spread. And that wasn't the end of his heroics. 

The retired officer recalled, "As soon as that happened, the car was pretty much engulfed in flames." After making sure Price got out safely, McLaughlin told Chick-fil-A employees to call 9-1-1 and started to fight the flames with a fire extinguisher he obtained from the workers. Evidently moved by how the harrowing incident unfolded, the manager of the Tulsa Chick-fil-A, David Chen, invited McLaughlin and Price to return to the restaurant for a free dinner. As Chen put it, "Incredible acts of kindness and service routinely happen at our restaurant, and this is just another example."