Bradley Jay Berglund helped to rescue Jason M. Sorensen and Andre Kostrzewa from burning, Centerville, Utah, June 25, 2020. Sorensen, 47, and Kostrzewa, 72, were seated in the cockpit of an airplane that had crashed in a pasture and caught fire, coming to rest in an upright position. Having observed the crash as a passenger in his brother’s truck on a nearby highway, Berglund, 34, and his brother pulled over and stopped. Berglund and the brother ran about 1,000 feet to the scene and approached the right side of the cockpit, the canopy of which was missing, where Sorensen was seated. Standing behind the wing, despite flames and smoke issuing from the plane’s nose, Berglund grasped Sorensen’s arm, then was forced to retreat because of the blistering heat. Returning to his position, Berglund released Sorensen’s seat belt. With his brother, both grasped Sorensen by the arms and pulled him from the right side of the plane and away from the fire. Returning to the plane with his brother, Berglund released Kostrzewa’s seat belt. Berglund and his brother then pulled Kostrzewa by his arms from the right side of the plane and moved him near Sorensen. Others helped Berglund and his brother pull Sorensen and Kostrzewa further away as the grass fire spread. Kostrzewa died that afternoon, while Sorensen died at a hospital four days later. Berglund, who inhaled smoke, was treated at a hospital for burns up to second-degree on his left forearm and felt pain in his right wrist. He recovered.
91200 – 10216
91200-10216