Steven Brunelle rescued Kenneth C. Mickelsen from burning, San Diego, California, February 19, 2000. Mickelsen, 29, remained in the driver’s seat of a sport utility vehicle that, at night, left the highway, rolled down an embankment, and, coming to rest upside down, caught fire. Traveling on the same highway, Brunelle, 39, route sales representative, witnessed the accident and stopped at the scene. He descended the embankment to the passenger side of the vehicle, where he found Mickelsen, semiconscious, suspended by his safety belt and aflame. Brunelle extended his upper body through the window of the front passenger door and patted out flames on Mickelsen’s leg. He then released Mickelsen’s safety belt and, though Mickelsen outweighed him greatly, dragged him from the vehicle and assisted him back to the highway. Flames on the vehicle grew and shortly engulfed it. Mickelsen required hospitalization for severe burns to his leg and an arm.
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