Actor and comedian Eugene Mirman has been hospitalised after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash at a toll plaza in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
The crash took place just before noon when his 2026 Lucid Gravity struck a toll plaza in Bedford and caught fire, according to the New Hampshire State Police. They added that calls made to the emergency line “indicated the vehicle had caught fire, and someone in the vehicle appeared to be trapped”.
The police identified the driver as Yevgeny Mirman, a 51-year-old Massachusetts resident, and said he was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital with “serious injuries”, according to a press release from the department.
A veteran state trooper who had been assigned to New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte’s security detail arrived at the scene and saw that the vehicle was “actively on fire” with the driver still inside.
The trooper, with help from Ayotte and two others, pulled Mirman from the burning vehicle through a window and moved him to safety, authorities said.
Mirman’s agent Jay Glassner confirmed that he had been in a “very scary car accident” in a statement to The New York Times.
“He wants to thank the bystanders, state police, first responders and hospital staff who saved him. He is grateful to be on the mend. At this time, we kindly ask for privacy for Eugene and his family as he focuses on recovering from his injuries,” he said.
Colonel Mark B Hall of New Hampshire State Police described the rescue as “heroic”, saying: “Without hesitation, they put themselves in danger to render aid to someone who was in need of it.”
Hall confirmed that Ayotte was in no danger and had left her vehicle to retrieve a fire extinguisher.
In a statement to Boston news outlet WCVB, Hall confirmed that Ayotte “did get out of the vehicle and tried to assist in any way she could at the scene”, adding that she “wasn’t in harm’s way at any point”.
No charges have been filed in connection with the crash, and the investigation is ongoing, the police said.
The Independent has reached out to Mirman’s representatives for comment.
Ayotte posted on social media thanking everyone who helped and said she was “praying for the full recovery of the driver who was injured today”.
Mirman, who was born in Moscow and raised in Massachusetts, has voiced middle child Gene Belcher on Bob’s Burgers since the animated sitcom premiered in 2011, appearing in more than 300 episodes as well as its feature film adaptation.
He also played Eugene in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords during its two-season run from 2007 to 2009, and has appeared in roles across television and animation, including Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Apple & Onion, and Dislocated, as well as a recurring role as Cecil Tunt, the brother of Cheryl Tunt, in Archer.
His guest appearances include roles in Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer and he reprised Gene Belcher in a 2018 crossover episode of The Simpsons.
