Terry L. Smith saved William T. Minor IV from burning, Montague, Texas, February 13, 2003. Minor, 37, was unconscious in the driver’s seat of an automobile after a highway accident in which the vehicle was struck in the rear by another. The car’s fuel tank was ruptured, and the vehicle broke into flames at its rear, flames then spreading to the rear interior. Approaching the scene in his vehicle, Smith, 46, construction foreman, witnessed the accident. He responded to the burning and smoke-filled car and, with difficulty, forced the driver’s door open. Extending the upper half of his body into the car across Minor, Smith released Minor’s safety belt, and he extinguished Minor’s smoldering hair and shirt. As Minor roused, Smith pulled him out of the car and to his feet, then led him to safety moments before the interior of the car filled with flame. Minor was hospitalized overnight for treatment of his injuries, but he was not burned.
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76943-8779