Brian Duane Pearson helped to save Mark Daniel from burning, Gumbranch, Georgia, October 6, 2000. At night, Daniel, 35, remained in the cab of his pickup truck after an accident in which the vehicle left the roadway, struck a utility pole, and went down an embankment. Fire broke out in its engine compartment. At his house nearby when it lost electricity, Pearson, 22, materials inspector, left to investigate and drove upon the scene, where he found the wreckage of the truck and Daniel inside. Pearson returned to the road and stopped a woman who was driving by. They went to the passenger side of Daniel’s truck, the flames on which had grown considerably by then and were entering the cab. They reached through the window of the passenger door, grasped Daniel, and attempted to pull him out, but he resisted the attempt. Persisting, they pulled him through the window just before an explosion at the truck threw them to the ground. Pearson and the woman then carried Daniel up the embankment toward the roadway as the truck became engulfed by flame. Daniel was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries. Pearson was treated at the hospital for minor cuts to his legs. He recovered.
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