Off Duty Firefighter Saves Couple From Car Dangling Off Boston Pier

CHARLESTOWN (CBS) - An off duty firefighter is being credited for saving a couple from a car dangling over a pier in Charlestown.

Brian Mulkern just happened to be at the Pier 6 restaurant Wednesday night when the couple's car went over the edge.

The off-duty Brookline firefighter is taking classes at Bunker Hill Community College and he was doing homework in the restaurant when he saw the crash.

When he heard the screams for help, he says his training kicked in.

Mulkern got bystanders to help stabilize the car, as he reached to pull the woman in the passenger seat to safety.

He says helping the man in the driver's seat was a trickier task.

"I kind of had to grab under the car and use the steering wheel as my balance point and kind of ease him out and slide him down, there was another civilian there, luckily, to shift him, because I was kind of hanging over the water," Mulkern said.

The driver of the car thought he was going in reverse when he hit the gas and went over the edge. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Mulkern is studying to become a nurse at Bunker Hill Community College.

The Brookline fire chief thanked him for his quick thinking.