As Enns brothers Andrew, 18, and Gabriel, 21, neared their Scotts Valley home around midnight on June 25—after heading up to Sacramento to celebrate their grandmother’s 75th birthday—they saw a car swerve off the road in front of them.
“This vehicle traveling southbound on (Highway) 17 left the roadway to the right,” said Officer Ross Lee, a California Highway Patrol spokesperson from the San Jose office, noting it collided with multiple trees about 500 feet north of Summit Road. “The vehicle caught fire.”
But before it was fully engulfed in flames, the brothers were able to help the woman from her sedan.
“They certainly did assist in getting her out and moving her to the road,” Lee said. “It definitely was a very selfless act.”
Meanwhile, their parents were still in Sacramento, resting up for a tour through Northern California.
Their dad David, 48, says he was pleased to learn of how his sons responded to the emergency, which Gabriel told him about matter-of-factly in a message afterward.
“He texted later that night,” he said. “It was just so casual.”
Gabriel was in Scouts growing up and had recently scored his first welding gig in San Jose.
Andrew recently joined the Marines but has been awaiting his next assignment after recovering from a motorcycle accident—where he injured both his wrists and his left foot.
Their dad believes those experiences prepared them to jump into action when someone’s life was on the line.
“If somebody’s in that situation, you do what you’ve gotta do,” he said. “It was just cool to see them do that.”
Their mom Amy, 46, said she didn’t see the group text until she awoke in the morning.
“Both boys have integrity and big hearts,” she said. “They’re ones that will step up to help.”
They’ve joined mission trips to Mexico and spread their love of surfing to Costa Ricans, she explained.
“I’m super proud of them,” she said. “It makes me smile.”
She said she’ll have to do something nice for her boys after she and David return from a visit to her mother’s home in Weed.
Gabriel declined to be interviewed for this story.
Officer Lee said given the combustible nature of vehicle fires, things could have turned out worse, had the brothers not intervened.
“That motivation to put yourself in some type of danger in order to assist or save someone else is a heroic act,” he said.
The driver was transported to a hospital in Santa Clara, where she was treated for minor injuries.
She’s suspected of driving while intoxicated, although no charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.
