LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville woman stopped along Bardstown Road last week to get gas and go to the bank. But soon, the situation turned into her crawling out the passenger side of her car to escape a fire.

Dawn Simpson was in the drive-thru lane at Chase Bank in the Deer Park neighborhood when the teller told her something was wrong.

"As soon as I pulled in, (the car) started smoking, and I hit the call button and I talked to Donna and she said, 'Your car's on fire,'" Simpson said. "I thought, 'Huh? It didn't register.' And I couldn't get out of the driver's side."

Flames quickly began spewing from beneath the hood. 

More than a week later, Simpson returned to the bank and met with Alan Stone, one of the employees who helped her during that scary situation that Simpson describes as a shock. 

Dawn Simpson and Alan Stone walk through the drive-thru of Chase Bank on Bardstown Road

Dawn Simpson and Alan Stone walk through the drive-thru of Chase Bank on Bardstown Road more than one week after her car caught on fire. Stone helped Simpson safely out of the car. (WDRB image from June 10, 2024)

"I said, 'Lady, we have to get out of the car. I think it's going to be on fire very soon,'" said Stone, a relationship banker at Chase.

After Simpson was safely out of her car, Stone ran down the street to the fire department to get help. 

"Alan (Stone) was fearless and he approached the car even though it was on fire to make sure I got out," Simpson said. "And for him to then be heroic enough to run to the fire department because he knew they would get here quicker — it just is above and beyond anything I've seen and people react that way."

It's certainly not how either of them imaged the day going, but they're thankful for how it ended up. 

"I didn't wake up in the morning and think I was going to help someone out of a burning car, but it's just what you have to do," Stone said. "When somebody needs help, you offer yourself to help."

He also believes, without the quick actions from firefighters, the bank would have been damaged, too. Simpson is grateful and said she was in the right place at the right time when the fire happened.

"To just know that they cared more about me than the bank ... it restores my faith in humanity," she said. "And the universe brought me here to Chase Bank for a reason."

Simpson said she's driving a rental car and hopes to get something reliable soon. 

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