Another example of Hudson Valley residents doing all they can to help.

It's always great to hear about our neighbors helping someone in need, or in this case a couple in need. According to the Daily Freeman, it all happened Tuesday afternoon as Laurie Helle and Chester Lezer were heading northbound on Washington Avenue shortly after 2 p.m. when their aide, Russell Mottsey of Lake Katrine, who was driving the couple’s 2003 Dodge Caravan, saw smoke coming up through the floorboards and pulled over.

Helle told the Freeman that "the van is modified to accommodate our motorized wheelchairs and has hand controls that allow me to drive".

When the aide, Mottsey noticed the flames he attempted to get the couple out by trying to activate the van’s wheelchair ramp, but the van’s automatic sliding door repeatedly opened and closed, making it impossible for him to get the ramp to open.

That's when passerby's jumped into action as CVS Manager David Guido ran out of the nearby store with a portable fire extinguisher and attacked flames coming from the van’s engine. Guido and two unidentified men carried Lezer from the van before putting out the fire. Helle, who is missing most of her legs, was carried out by Mottsey.

Deputy Kingston Fire Chief James Brunner told the Freeman that the fire appears to have been caused by smoke and fire after transmission fluid ignited and is most likely repairable.

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