A. C. Wade saved Rickey L. Davis and helped to save Melinda D. Peterson from burning, Bloomington, Indiana, September 8, 1984. Davis and Miss Peterson, both 20, were in a car that, during a highway accident at night, left the road, overturned, and came to rest against a utility pole. In a nearby house, Wade, 59, handyman, was awakened by the accident. He went to the car, where he found Davis hanging upside down, restrained by his seat belt. As flames fed on the exposed underside of the car, Wade reached through the broken driver’s window and cut Davis’ seat belt, freeing him. Joined by another man, Wade then crouched, leaned under the front of the car as flames were spreading on it, and helped to pull Miss Peterson, who was unconscious, from her position in a ditch beneath the car. They carried her away. Shortly afterward, the car exploded and was engulfed in flames. Davis and Miss Peterson were hospitalized for their injuries, and they recovered.
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