Clifford Faraci attempted to save Shelby N. Dwyer from burning, Phoenix, Arizona, March 14, 2013. Dwyer, 19, was trapped in the front seats of the car she had been driving after a multi-vehicle highway accident. Faraci, 43, mechanical contractor, was traveling on the same highway at the time and stopped at the scene. He responded to the driver’s side of Dwyer’s badly damaged car, saw her inside, and attempted to open the driver’s door but was unsuccessful. Speaking to Dwyer to reassure her, Faraci saw smoke issuing from under the car’s hood. He extended an arm into the vehicle through the window opening of the driver’s door to turn the car’s ignition off but could not reach it. As Faraci then extended his upper body into the car to gain access to the switch, the car burst into flames, which enveloped him. Withdrawing, he put out the flames that were on his pants and boots. Faraci turned to go back to the car, but an explosion engulfed it with flames. Dwyer died at the scene. Faraci was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was detained a week for treatment of second-degree burns to his hands and arms.
86510 – 9734
86510-9734