It had been a long day for Donald Carson when he was driving home from work on Sunday.

The off-duty correctional officer had just finished a double shift at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in South Brunswick, New Jersey when he saw a "dazed" woman who had just gotten into a car collision on the highway. More importantly, she was sitting in her vehicle enough though a fire had started under its hood.

"I seen other cars just driving by, so I said, ‘I have to make a decision now,'" Correction Officer Donald Carson told WPIX. "So basically, I just made a U-turn and I approached it and I see her, you know, in shock."

Carson turned his car around and leapt into action. As he approached the car, he found that the 59-year-old woman had rear-ended a tractor-trailer and her wrist was badly broken.

33-year-old Carson soothed the woman, unbuckled her seatbelt, and scooped her into his arms so he could carry her to a safe distance away from the car. Roughly two minutes later, law enforcement officials arrived on the scene – and the car exploded.

The woman is in the hospital, but she is expected to make a full recovery. The local police department is also praising Carson for his courage and initiative.

"I would describe his actions as heroic," South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond J. Hayducka Jr. told the news outlet. "Obviously, someone is alive today because of it."

(WATCH the video below)

Be Sure And Share This Heroic Story With Your Friends – Photo by WPIX