R. Wayne Trivette helped to save Grace E. Makula from burning, Jasper, Michigan, July 21, 2015. Badly injured and unconscious, Makula, 25, remained in the driver’s seat of a sport utility vehicle after it was involved in a head-on collision, left the roadway, and began to smoke in its engine compartment. Traveling on the same highway, Trivette, 67, retired truck driver, witnessed the accident and stopped at the scene. He responded to the sport utility vehicle, where he aided the three children in Makula’s care through a window and directed them to safety. Flames were breaking out in the vehicle’s engine compartment as Trivette then tried to open its driver’s door, but the door was jammed. Another man responded with fire extinguishers, which he and Trivette used against the growing flames, but to limited effect. After the other man then broke out the window of the driver’s door and cut Makula’s safety belt, Trivette and he worked to force that door open partially. They then reached inside the vehicle, grasped Makula, and, pulling her free, carried her to safety as flames began to enter the front of the passenger compartment. Makula required hospitalization for treatment of severe injuries, but she was not burned.
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