Kenneth F. Smith rescued James A. Daisey from burning, Lincoln, Delaware, May 20, 2014.
Daisey, 65, was driving a dump truck on a two-lane highway when a speeding car entered his lane. The vehicles collided. The dump truck overturned onto its passenger side in a ditch off the highway shoulder, and the car came to rest upright at the front of the truck. Flames broke out there. Remaining conscious, Daisey stood on the passenger door and attempted to open the driver’s door.
Smith, 48, business operator of Milford, had been driving behind Daisey and witnessed the accident. He left his vehicle and was attempting to aid the driver of the car when he became aware that Daisey was trapped in the cab of the truck. Smith ran to the truck, climbed up the wreckage of the cab, and stood on its driver’s side next to the door. He opened the door wide and saw Daisey inside.
Extending an arm into the cab, Smith grasped Daisey and helped him from the cab through the doorway. By then, flames had started to enter the cab near the passenger door. Smith returned to the ground, aided Daisey off the truck, and took him to safety. Flames grew to engulf the interior of the cab, which was destroyed.
Daisey was taken to the hospital for treatment of a mild burn and other minor injuries, and Smith inhaled smoke and sustained lacerations to his arms. They recovered. The driver of the car died at the scene.
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