Troy Allen Reinert helped to save Tyler L. B. Sunderlin from burning, Salina, Kansas, February 20, 2010. Sunderlin, 18, was the passenger of a car that collided with a pickup truck and left the roadway. It came to rest upright in a pasture, and flames broke out in its front end. Sunderlin, rendered unconscious, was trapped in the front-seat area of the wreckage. Reinert, 37, business operator, drove upon the scene, stopped, and joined two men at the wreckage who were attempting to free Sunderlin through the driver’s side of the car. Reinert leaned through the window of the passenger door and worked to free Sunderlin as flames grew and spread both toward the passenger side and inside the vehicle, to the dash. After the men freed Sunderlin, the two other men pulled him from the car and then, joined by Reinert, carried him to safety. Flames grew quickly to engulf and destroy the vehicle. Sunderlin was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries, requiring surgery, but he was not burned.
82975 – 9427
82975-9427