James Karl Webb helped to rescue William E. McElveen, Michael R. Purdin, and George K. Horne from burning, Buchanan, New York, April 11, 1989. McElveen, 42; Purdin, 27, and Horne, 48, were dazed inside a car that had caught fire in a highway accident. Witnessing the accident, Webb, 25, security guard, and another man ran to the driver’s door of the car and forced it open. Webb helped McElveen from the driver’s seat and, as he led him away from the burning car, the other man removed Purdin from the back seat. Webb and the other man then returned to the car for Horne. Finding the passenger door jammed shut, Webb shattered its window with a rock, then reached inside to free Horne, who was pinned by wreckage. Despite intense heat inside the car and flames which had by then entered it, Webb and the other man grasped Horne and pulled him through the window. McElveen, Purdin, and Horne were hospitalized eight days for their injuries, Horne’s including second- and third-degree burns to his legs. Webb sustained a minor cut to his hand a pulled leg muscle. He recovered.
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