2 Good Samaritans Hit by Passing Car in Tustin : Accident: They were trying to put out a fire in a stalled vehicle. One man, struck from behind and spun around, suffers a broken wrist; the other, who was flung 70 feet, is injured in head and stomach.

Two good Samaritans wound up in the hospital Wednesday after being hit by a car while trying to put out a fire in a stalled automobile.

Jim Steele, 56, and Frederick Gobron, 26, were trying to douse flames rising from a car stranded at the intersection of Tustin Ranch Road and Bryan Avenue when they were struck by a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Jonathan Stout, 18.

“Out of nowhere, I heard this whunk and I got bumped on the backside and went spinning around and bang, the mirror hit me in the right chest and left wrist,” Steele, an El Toro resident, said as he cradled a broken wrist outside the emergency room at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

His fellow good Samaritan fared worse.

Gobron, a lance corporal at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Station, was in good condition Wednesday after undergoing surgery for injuries to his head and stomach.

Stout said he could not see the two men because of the thick smoke from the car.

“I approached the intersection and there was a whole bunch of smoke and this guy

stepped out in front of me,” Stout said. “He was just there. I didn’t see him before at all.”

The impact knocked Gobron 40 feet through the air. Police said he skidded 30 more feet before coming to a stop.

“I’ve never seen anyone fly so high,” Steele said. “He was higher than your head.”

The driver of the Mercedes-Benz, who was away from the scene calling her husband at the time of the accident, said that yellow-brown smoke started to billow from her car after she stopped at a red light.

“It’s terrible what happened,” Susan Yang said, as she surveyed the charred hood of her car at the scene of the accident.

Stout was questioned and released but an investigation is continuing. He said he slowed when he approached the intersection to about 30 m.p.h. Police confirmed that Stout was not going faster than the 40-m.p.h. speed limit.

Tustin police said both men apparently grabbed fire extinguishers from their cars but were unsuccessful in quelling the flames.

“These were two very, very nice people and I feel very bad for them but your own safety’s what important in the end,” Traffic Investigator Terri McLaughlin said.

She said a third man who stopped to help was not injured.

Steele, who said he has twice before stopped to aid motorists with burning cars, agreed Wednesday.

“I’m about to give this good Samaritan stuff up,” he said ruefully as he rubbed the white cast on his arm. “You stop and think, just a few inches and it could have been me. But I made it again.”

Chaos at Accident Scene Two men were injured Wednesday when a vehicle struck them as they tried to put out a fire in a stalled car near Tustin Market Place. How it happened: 1. Car breaks down; driver leaves smoking car. 2. Two motorists pull over; they both use fire extinquishers to quell flames. 3. Signal turns green; a Chevy Suburban hits both motorists, who are obscured by smoke. One man is struck from behind and spun around. The Suburban’s side-mirror breaks his left wrist. The second man is hit,thrown 40 feet and slides 30 feet on the street. Source: Tustin Police Department; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times