Michael T. Chura helped to save Priscilla R. Roslyn from burning, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, August 11, 2010. Roslyn, 61, remained in the driver’s seat of her automobile after an accident in which the vehicle left the roadway, rolled down a grassy embankment, and came to rest upside down. Conscious but dazed, Roslyn was still secured by her safety belt as flames broke out on the exposed underside of the vehicle, at its front, and began to spread. On vacation, Chura, 48, fire chief, drove upon the scene just after the accident. He parked and ran to the burning vehicle’s driver’s door, which was open. To free Roslyn, he entered the vehicle, head first, through the window opening of the rear driver’s-side door and worked to release her safety belt. Flames were entering the vehicle. Chura was successful after repeated attempts, and Roslyn dropped to the ceiling of the car. Other men who responded to the scene pulled Roslyn from the vehicle as Chura backed through the window. He and the other men moved Roslyn away from the car as flames grew, engulfing it shortly and destroying it. Roslyn was hospitalized for treatment of injuries sustained in the accident, but she was not burned.
83517 – 9464
83517-9464