Daniel L. Weiss saved a woman from burning, Greensboro, North Carolina, May 17, 2022. The woman, 29, was unconscious in her two-door coupe after an accident in which the car left a rural road and continued down an embankment for about 25 feet, where it struck two trees and caught fire. Weiss, 59, facility technician, was working on a utility pole nearby and responded. He reached the driver’s door and saw the woman in the driver’s seat, unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel. He reached in through the window opening and shook her in an attempt to wake her, but she did not respond. Weiss felt for a pulse, then noticed flames burning at the hood and spreading inside through the dashboard and air vents. He called to his co-worker for a fire extinguisher, which the man provided. Weiss emptied the extinguisher, but the flames at the hood continued to burn. He pulled on the handle of the driver’s door, but the door would not open. He then ran to the passenger side and fully entered the car, knelt on the front, passenger seat, and turned the woman so she faced away from him. From behind, Weiss reached his arms around her front, clasped his hands together, and lifted her over the center console onto the passenger seat. Flames again burned through the air vents and spread toward the passenger side, coming within a foot of them. Weiss backed through the passenger door opening and fell with the woman to the ground. Two men responded and, with Weiss, carried her to a point about 20 feet away after seeing fire envelop the front seats. Flames grew to engulf the vehicle’s entire cab. The woman was not burned but was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the accident. Weiss suffered minor smoke inhalation and recovered.
