Orlando firefighters save woman who drove onto train tracks

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Several Downtown Orlando firefighters are being credited with saving a woman and her car from being hit by a train.

On Wednesday night, just before midnight, firefighters at Orlando Fire Station 1 said a person came running into their engine bay saying a car was on the train tracks outside.

Bassel Ibrahim said he and several other firefighters ran out to find the car on the tracks next to their building; tires blown, driver still inside, and a freight train approaching.

"Literally, within like 20 seconds, you had 15 guys on the track trying to get this lady out of the vehicle,” said Ibrahim.

Other firefighters began working to get the train stopped while Ibrahim said they successfully got the woman out. Then, he and his fellow firefighters pushed that car off the tracks and back into the street.
A passer-by, Nolan Thompson of Orlando, captured the rescue on his cell phone as the group of rescuers got the vehicle out of the train’s path with time to spare.

That’s about where the driver’s luck ran out though.

According to an Orlando Police report from the incident, officers arrived and smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath, observed her slurring her words and her eyes glassy.

The driver, who they identify as 21-year-old Stephanie Pile, told them she was going home to her apartment near the University of Central Florida and had driven on the tracks because ‘people were letting her,’ according to the report.

Officers wrote that while they were canvassing the scene, Pile attempted to step on the gas and shift the vehicle into drive and, upon failing to follow instructions to stop, officers removed her from the vehicle.

Pile was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and resisting an officer without violence.  She has since bonded out of the Orange County Jail.  Attempts by FOX 35 to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.