Jeremy Day helped to save Elizabeth R. Gray from burning, Windsor, Maine, November 15, 2012. Elizabeth, 17, was the passenger of an automobile that was in a head-on collision with another vehicle. She was trapped in the wreckage and tangled in her safety belt. Day, 38, deputy sheriff, responded to the scene, where others were attempting to open the car’s passenger door. When flames that had erupted intensified, men at the scene broke out the car’s rear window. Day climbed through the window into the rear of the passenger compartment and positioned himself between the car’s front seats. Flames by then were entering the vehicle at the dashboard. Day used one hand to bat out the flames that were threatening Elizabeth and the other to free her from her safety belt. He then freed her legs from the wreckage and, directing others at the scene to use a fire extinguisher and a garden hose against the flames, pulled her to the rear compartment. As she was yet caught by a foot, Day extended his body back toward the dashboard and released it. Others pulled Elizabeth through the rear window to safety, Day also leaving the vehicle through the window. Elizabeth required hospital treatment for her injuries, as did Day, who sustained smoke inhalation and minor cuts. He recovered.
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