Scott Allen Berner saved Joseph G., Ann K., and Mary K. Leadon from burning, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 21, 1984. Mary, 4, and Mrs. Leadon, 40, were passengers in a truck driven by Leadon, 33, when the truck overturned on a highway ramp and caught fire. Traveling nearby, Berner, 26, meat packer, witnessed the accident. He stopped his car and ran back to the truck, where the Leadon family was trapped in the cab by their seat belts. With flames issuing from the hood and underside of the cab, Berner kicked out the windshield and removed it. Despite increasing flames separating him from the cab’s interior, Berner entered the cab through the windshield opening to remove Mary. Twice more he entered the cab for Leadon and his wife. Moments after the rescue, the truck’s fuel tank ignited and engulfed the cab in flames. Berner and the Leadons were treated for minor injuries, and they recovered.
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