An ex-firefighter in Princeton, the 34-year-old said he had been on the scene of a handful of traffic accidents during his tenure with the fire department. Some were heartbreaking, but none was particularly personal — except for one.

“I came across an accident one day where I found a friend of mine,” Jones said on Friday. “That’s when I had to quit.”

Memories of the accident that killed his friend’s life came rushing back Friday. About 10:45 a.m., Jones was sitting in the living room of his home near Herring Road when he heard the high-pitched squeal of a train’s brakes.

As he rushed outside, Jones saw it. A mangled white Cadillac had been struck by the train, which was carrying coal.

Across the road on U.S. 70-A, Marie Bailey had also heard the noise. She said her heart ran cold. “I heard the brakes squealing to high heaven,” she said. “I knew something bad had happened. I feared for some people I know on [Wellons-Boyette Road]. There are some people I know up there who aren’t the best of drivers.”

Back at the crash site, Jones rushed to the car, where he saw two adults trapped inside. He called out to the pair but heard no response. Then he noticed an empty car seat.

“I looked around and saw a couple of bags on the ground, and then I saw the baby,” he said. “I heard him cry just a little, then I cupped him in my arms and carried him to an ambulance.”

Lu Hickey, a spokeswoman for Johnston County, said the child was thrown from the car somewhere between the railroad crossing at Herring Road and U.S. 70-A and another crossing near Bailey’s house. Hickey said the train carried the Cadillac about a quarter-mile along the tracks before it was thrown into a nearby tobacco field.

Trooper Jason Hare said the man and woman in the car — Brandon Brady, 25, and Crystal Higgins, 22, both of 172 Herring Road — died at the scene. Hare said Brady and Higgins were engaged to be married.

The infant, Skylar Brady, just six days old, was taken to WakeMed in Raleigh, where he died the next day.