Among all the first-responders that went to the scene of an Owosso, Michigan, accident, Perry (Michigan) Area Fire Rescue Chief Trent Atkins, fourth from right, presented the Carnegie Medal to Kenneth Jeremy Davis Jr., third from right, at a private ceremony held on Saturday, June 21.
Davis was recognized with the medal in December 2024 after he saved a man from a burning vehicle in Owosso on March 31, 2024.
Just before midnight a 21-year-old man was driving in his sedan, when the vehicle left a rural road and hit a fence and tree. The impact caused the vehicle’s front end to catch on fire and push the burning engine into the driver’s compartment. The engine broke the man’s ankle and pinned him inside. Owosso heavy equipment operator Kenneth Jeremy Davis Jr., 46, was sitting in his pickup truck when he saw the crash. While his partner called 911, Davis drove to the scene. The man remained trapped in the car with his shoes and part of his pants briefly on fire. He called for help as Davis tried to open the vehicle’s doors, but the wreckage had pinned them closed. Davis ran back to his truck and donned a pair of gloves. He punched the rear, passenger-side window six times until it broke and he climbed into the back seat. Davis grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him into the back seat with him. He backed himself through the window and reached back inside to pull Scott out. Despite the man being taller and heavier than him, Davis pulled him out through the window and dragged him 20 feet across a gravel driveway. The car’s front tires burst and flames intensified. With help from a neighbor nearby, Davis dragged the man farther away to safety. The man suffered broken bones from the crash, including a fractured collarbone, but he was not burned. Davis suffered a swollen hand from punching the window but was otherwise uninjured.
Davis was joined by family and other members of the fire department and members of law enforcement.
