Bruce M. Baker helped to save Randall J. Shaver from burning, Rochester, Indiana, April 13, 1998. Shaver, 44, state trooper, was suspended by his safety belt inside his patrol car, which had overturned and started to burn on its underside after a head-on collision. Baker, 52, sheriff, arriving at the scene shortly after the accident, approached the patrol car and, with another man, pulled the driver’s door open. Despite the nearby flames, Baker partially entered the car and cut Shaver’s safety belt with a pocketknife, freeing him. He grasped Shaver and, with the other man, pulled him from the car as it was quickly becoming engulfed by flame. They dragged him away from the car but sought refuge on the ground when ammunition in the burning car began to explode. Shaver was hospitalized for treatment of multiple, serious injuries.
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72674-8293