Glen Douglas Howard saved Lee B. Swearingen from an impending explosion, Gallup, New Mexico, January 8, 1975. In a highway accident at night, a tractor-trailer carrying liquid butane upset and caught fire. Despite severe injuries, Swearingen, 56, managed to climb out of the rig and crawl some distance from it but then was surrounded by flames on the highway. Howard, 24, fork lift operator, arrived at the scene and saw that vapor was rising from the trailer, indicating danger of an explosion. Running through some of the burning areas on the highway, Howard reached Swearingen and began moving him farther away from the rig. The butane exploded, knocking down both men and inflicting burns on them. Swearingen and Howard were hospitalized, and both recovered from their burns.
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