A boom truck driver was trapped in the driver’s seat, after a June 9, 2020, accident in Derry, Louisiana, that left the truck overturned and on fire. Daniel L. Cook, 48, field operations manager of Alexandria, Louisiana, and Brandon Melancon, 36, operations executive of Church Point, Louisiana, responded to the driver’s window where they each extended an arm into the truck and pulled on the clothing of driver Justin A. Richmond, 28, but his lower body was pinned. Switching their grasp to Richmond’s arms, they continued to pull on him as flames entered the truck’s passenger compartment and burned Richmond. As Richmond’s legs came free, Cook aided him to the ground, and then Cook and Melancon dragged him from the vehicle.
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A boom truck burns in Derry, Louisiana, on June 9, 2020, after Daniel L. Cook and Brandon Melancon removed the driver, 28-year-old Justin A. Richmond from the truck. Although Richmond’s lower body was pinned in the wreckage, the Carnegie heroes tugged into his legs came free. A boom truck driver was trapped in the driver’s seat, after a June 9, 2020, accident in Derry, Louisiana, that left the truck overturned and on fire. Daniel L. Cook, 48, field operations manager of Alexandria, Louisiana, and Brandon Melancon, 36, operations executive of Church Point, Louisiana, responded to the driver’s window where they each extended an arm into the truck and pulled on the clothing of driver Justin A. Richmond, 28, but his lower body was pinned. Switching their grasp to Richmond’s arms, they continued to pull on him as flames entered the truck’s passenger compartment and burned Richmond. As Richmond’s legs came free, Cook aided him to the ground, and then Cook and Melancon dragged him from the vehicle. Photo courtesy of Natchinoches County Sheriff’s Office.
