Clint J. Deniker saved Thomas B. Stevenson, Sr., from burning, Grove City, Pennsylvania, April 4, 2008. Stevenson, 52, was the driver of a car that overturned in an accident on a rural road, came to rest on its roof, and caught fire in its engine area. Deniker, 35, conservation officer, saw the burning vehicle on leaving his nearby house. He drove to the scene, finding Stevenson unconscious and upside down, restrained by his safety belt with a portion of one leg extended through an opening in the wreckage on the driver’s side of the car. Deniker pulled on the wreckage to widen the opening and then knelt beside the car and extended his upper body through the opening. He shook Stevenson, who did not respond. Deniker cut Stevenson’s safety belt with a knife and freed his other leg, which was trapped. He grasped Stevenson by the ankles and pulled him, with difficulty, free of the vehicle. As he dragged Stevenson away from the car, flames entered its interior and spread nearly to engulf it. Stevenson was hospitalized two weeks for treatment of his injuries, but he was not burned.
81224 – 9230
81224-9230