Dick Van Dyke Emergency -- Actor Pulled Out of Flaming Vehicle

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Dick Van Dyke
Pulled Out of
Flaming Vehicle
87-year-old actor Dick Van Dyke narrowly averted disaster moments ago on an L.A. freeway -- when his Jaguar burst into flames -- but thankfully, he was pulled to safety in the nick of time.

The hero who rescued him is a guy named Jason Pennington, who tells TMZ, he was driving along the 101 when he saw a car full of smoke on the side of the road ... and an elderly man hunched over at the wheel.

Pennington tells us, he pulled up and ran over to discover Dick Van Dyke struggling inside.

Pennington says he opened the driver door and pulled the actor out of the vehicle as flames tore through the engine.

We're told Dick was slightly disoriented by the experience but did NOT need medical attention. His wife came to pick him up shortly after and brought him home.

As for the car ... it's toast.

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Shawne Merriman -- Appeared Incredibly Sober ... After Alleged Medical Emergency

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Shawne Merriman
Appeared Incredibly Sober
After Alleged Hospitalization
8:20 AM PT -- Merriman is now acknowledging he was hospitalized, and tweeted that he was just "dehydrated" -- which might explain why he looked so sober and coherent in our video.

Dehydrated. @tmz got me good though this morning lol m.tmz.com/#Article/2013/…

— Shawne Merriman (@shawnemerriman) June 10, 2013

Mystery solved?
For a guy who was allegedly hospitalized at 9:30 pm Sunday night, retired NFL star Shawne Merriman appeared incredibly SOBER when TMZ shot him out just 3 hours later.

The whole situation is bizarre ... considering law enforcement has confirmed with NFL.com that the former NFL All-Pro was transported to an L.A. hospital for an undisclosed "medical emergency" around 9:30pm Sunday night.

In fact, law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... officials responded to a "possible overdose" at Colony nightclub with a caller reporting a man who was "barely conscious."

Sources tell us ... the 29-year-old former NFL All-Pro had been inside the club -- but was "escorted out" after people inside believed he appeared like he was going to pass out.

In short -- our sources are ADAMANT Merriman was hospitalized last night.

Which brings us to the video ...

Our TMZ photog noticed Merriman leaving Greystone Manor (a short cab ride from Colony) around 12:26 am on Monday morning ... and struck up a normal TMZ conversation with the guy.

In the footage, Merriman appears lucid, conversational ... and in no way like a person who was "barely conscious" just 3 hours before the video was shot.

At one point in the video, Merriman asks us "So, what's up?" Our guy responds, "Just livin'."

Merriman quickly jokes back, "Yeah, me too."

Plus, Merriman was tweeting around 2:40 am ... telling people he was partying with rapper The Game.

So, what REALLY happened Sunday night? Seems the jury is still out.