Members earn praise for saving trapped man's life amidst 'fireball' scene on M1

26 August 2026

When Northamptonshire PC Tanya Watkins arrived at a multiple-lorry crash on the M1, she was expecting the ‘worse day of her life’.

Several HGVs had collided into a ‘fireball’ when she responded to a call with fellow PCs Charlie Brown and Tom Cottle.

The Federation members' efforts over the next frantic few minutes not only saved the life of a man who was trapped amidst the flamed-ridden wreckage but earned praise from all corners of the Force.

The incident took place late at night on the northbound carriageway on Tuesday 4 August and led to a much-publicised closure of the M1 Motorway between junctions 16 and 18 for 26 hours.

The crash involved four HGVs while the driver of a white Scania vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tanya said: “We were told there would be a ‘fireball’ when we arrived at the incident and saw a lorry on fire blocking three lanes of traffic.

Trapped

“When Tom arrived a minute after Charlie and I, we knew we needed some fire extinguishers in a hurry.

“We could hear that one of the men trapped was still talking in a lorry that was heavily on fire. As we tried to put it out, I remember thinking that this was going to be the worse day of my life not being able to help a man who was trapped inside a burning vehicle.

“When we had emptied our own extinguishers, I ran back up the motorway banging on doors to see if I could get my hands on any more and luckily, we got enough to ensure that Tom and I could eventually put the fire out.

“But the man was mechanically trapped and there was no way we could get to him ourselves and would need the fire service for that.

 

 

“As we waited for them to arrive, I saw that the fire was starting up again but the fire service then arrived and blasted what was left of it out and managed to free the trapped man.”

Tanya said that the events of the evening didn’t really hit her until later.

“At the time, you never have a single thought for your own safety because you have to deal with what is in front of you. At that time, it was just part of our job to put that fire out – and that’s what we did.

“I think only after the fire was out and we were standing there did we think: ‘that could have ended horrifically’.

Team effort

“People have told us that we did a great job and it was a great team effort. It is just sad that there was still a fatality from the incident.”

Chief inspector and Head of Roads Policing in the Force Tim Britton said he was ‘in awe’ of the work that the likes of Tanya, Tom, Charlie and their colleagues do on a daily basis.

“Before they even arrived at that scene on that night, they would have to get through four lanes of traffic on a busy motorway with no hard shoulder,” said Tim, who is also deputy secretary and deputy treasurer of the Federation.

 

Chief Inspector and Head of Roads Policing, Tim Britton

 

“In the dark, they will have been faced with a scene of destruction and quickly had to work out how many vehicles are involved and where the casualties are. The scene would have been complete chaos and the fireball would have made immediate decision-making even harder.

“They have to manage the crowd too. There are onlookers but there are also often people pointing to where they think casualties may be too. The officers have to be so focused.

“They used their own fire extinguishers from their vehicles but they are only small ones and so they ran back up the motorway grabbing as many extinguishers as they could from lorries.

Praise

“In fact, the sergeant who arrived on the scene later said he saw a large pile of fire extinguishers on the road so they must have got through plenty of them.

“As their chief inspector, I am immensely proud of what they did on that night.”

Branch chair Sam Dobbs reserved further praise for the Federation members.

“People who were there described what they saw as a fireball,” said Sam.

“Our members put themselves in danger to try and save others. They all showed incredible selflessness and bravery to save the life of the person who was trapped.

“There used to be a police recruitment advert which described what police officers are confronted with, with the question: ‘Could You?’. Our public can be proud that, yet again, police officers show what makes them the heroes they are.”

Police are still appealing for anyone with information of what they saw on the evening to email CollisionAppeals@northants.police.uk, call the Drivewatch Hotline on 0800 174615, or contact Northamptonshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 26000465061.

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