Cody Fields and Brian Nesbitt rescued Rashad X. Isreal from burning, Silver Spring, Maryland, September 1, 2015.
Isreal, 33, was unconscious in the driver’s seat of a burning car after an interstate highway accident in which the car came to rest in the emergency lane, its driver’s side flush against the concrete medial barrier.
On duty, Fields, 24, county police officer of Silver Spring, responded to the scene. Flames by then covered the front end of the car and, burning intensely, were moving toward its passenger side. Finding both passenger-side doors locked, Fields broke out the window of the rear door with his service baton and leaned inside and unlocked both doors. He then opened the rear door and entered but withdrew and advanced to the front door.
Another on-duty county officer, Nesbitt, 35, of Germantown, Maryland, arrived, and he entered the car through its rear door as Fields leaned in through the front door. The car was filled with smoke, and the intense heat was compromising the windshield and dashboard.
Both officers grasped Isreal and with difficulty pulled him over the center console to the front door. Nesbitt exited the vehicle, and, next to Fields, who was standing among flames, assisted Fields in pulling Isreal from the car.
The officers dragged Isreal to a point of safety moments before firefighters arrived.
Isreal required hospital treatment, and Fields was treated at the scene for heat exposure and smoke inhalation. He recovered.
88138-9903 / 88139-9904
