Frank L. Hubbard rescued Terry D. Thompson from burning, Sanford, North Carolina, March 11, 2004. Thompson, 60, was unconscious in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck after it collided with a tractor-trailer at an intersection. Flames immediately broke out at the pickup and grew rapidly, entering the cab of that vehicle and spreading to the tractor. Hubbard, 43, driver of the tractor-trailer, exited his truck’s cab and went to the driver’s door of the pickup. He opened the door to find Thompson unresponsive and restrained by his safety belt. Despite flames in the cab that ignited the legs of Thompson’s pants, Hubbard extended his upper body into the vehicle and cut the safety belt with a pocketknife. He then grasped Thompson by his jacket, pulled him out of the pickup, and dragged him away from the wreckage, which soon became engulfed by flames. Thompson was hospitalized six days for treatment of his injuries, which included second-degree burns. He recovered. Hubbard sustained a back injury in the accident that required medical attention.
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