Olga Renee Rosander

Olga Reneé Rosander helped to save Clifford M. Gandy from burning, Elk Grove, California, June 25, 2003. Gandy, 70, was unconscious in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck after an accident in which the truck struck two parked vehicles, then crossed a lawn and struck a one-story residence. The truck was partially embedded in the residence, one of the other vehicles ending up on the lawn just a few feet away. A gas line at the residence was severed in the accident, and escaping gas under pressure caught fire, flames spreading to the truck and the residence. Neighbors, including Ms. Rosander, 48, custodial supervisor, heard the crash and responded to the scene. Although she was barefoot, Ms. Rosander made her way between the wrecked vehicles, despite the truck’s positioning over the burning gas line. One of the neighbors had opened the truck’s driver’s door and cut Gandy’s safety belt. Ms. Rosander approached him and pulled on him as he pulled Gandy from the truck. Ms. Rosander and the neighbor then dragged Gandy from between the vehicles and to a point of safety across the street. Flames grew quickly on the truck and in the residence. Gandy was taken to the hospital for observation, and Ms. Rosander required hospital treatment for a cut on one foot, from which she recovered.