Peter Edward Alley saved Gary C. Alley from burning, Bar Harbor, Maine, January 13, 2006. Unconscious, Gary, 52, remained in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck he had been driving, after a pre-dawn accident in which the vehicle slid on ice, left the highway, and struck a tree. Fire broke out in the pickup’s engine compartment and began to spread, and dense smoke filled the cab. An approaching motorist, Peter, 46, maintenance supervisor, stopped at the scene and tried to open the driver’s door but was unsuccessful. He then reached through the door’s missing window, unlatched Gary’s safety belt, and pulled on Gary, but he could not move him. Peter left the scene to obtain a fire extinguisher from a nearby house and on returning found that the extinguisher was not functional. Despite flames that had grown and spread to the roof of the vehicle and had begun to enter the cab, Peter returned to the driver’s side, reached through the window, and again pulled on Gary. After several attempts, he pulled him partially out of the vehicle, but Gary’s foot was tangled in the safety belt. Peter freed the foot, then dragged Gary about 20 feet away to safety. Within moments, an explosive burst of flame engulfed the vehicle, the fuel tank of which was found to be ruptured, and the vehicle was destroyed. Gary required hospital treatment for his injuries, but neither he nor Peter was burned.
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