Clayton A. Boucher helped to save Lyle M. Robison from burning, Holland Patent, New York, July 10, 2007. Unconscious, Robison, 67, remained in the driver’s seat of his car after an accident in which the vehicle left the highway, overturned onto its passenger side, and came to rest against a concrete abutment in a ditch adjoining the roadway. Flames broke out in the vehicle’s engine compartment. Traveling on the same highway, Boucher, 44, electronics technician, arrived at the scene and learned that the vehicle was occupied. He entered the ditch and approached the burning car from behind, where he broke out its rear window with a rock. Despite intense heat and dense smoke in the car, Boucher stepped inside through the window opening. He freed Robison of his safety belt and then lifted him up to the driver’s door, where others who had opened the door pulled Robison from the car and took him to safety on the highway. Boucher stepped to safety through the rear window of the car less than a minute before flames intensified to enter it. Robison required hospitalization for treatment of his injuries, and Boucher suffered minor cuts to his hands. Both men recovered.
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