( CNN ) -- Jeff Peterson and his 30 volunteer comrades with the Community Fire Department in suburban Charlotte , North Carolina , were enjoying an early Christmas dinner Sunday afternoon when someone looked out a window and saw smoke , thinking it might be a car fire . A few donned gear as others rushed outside the North Belmont station house to find it was an SUV that had struck a tree . Video taken at the scene showed flames shooting out of the engine compartment and the driver 's white door blackened from the fire . Local resident Kathy Lamberth apparently had lost control of the Suburban , CNN affiliate WSOC reported . `` You could n't see in the vehicle , '' which was about 35 yards from the station , Peterson , 36 , told HLN on Wednesday . Within moments , Peterson and fellow paramedic Neil Jones , along with firefighter/EMT Jake Beatty , found the doors were jammed . They opened the rear swinging doors of the vehicle and saw Lamberth , whose seat had been pushed back by the impact , trying to reach her 3-week-old son , Landen . `` We knew while it was an urgent situation we could make the rescue without harming ourselves , '' said Peterson , who provided aid to the mother and son after Jones and Beatty brought them out of the burning vehicle . `` I thought as long as he made it I was happy , '' Lamberth said , referring to her son . Landen did not suffer injuries , WSOC said . Lamberth , 23 , who was treated at a hospital and released , had gratitude for the firefighters . `` They were our guardian angels , '' she said . Officials credit part of the quick response to the fact they had gathered for the meal . `` We were miraculously all there for dinner , '' Peterson said . HLN 's Tracey Jordan and CNN 's Phil Gast contributed to this report .
A mother and infant child were trapped in the vehicle . Volunteer firefighters in a North Carolina town pulled them from the burning SUV . The accident occurred a short distance from the fire department .