Jay S. Huscher helped to save Tanner S. Porter and Tyler L. B. Sunderlin from burning, Salina, Kansas, February 20, 2010. Porter, 18, was the driver of a car that collided with a pickup truck and left the roadway. It came to rest upright in a pasture, and flames broke out in its front end. Porter remained conscious but was trapped in the front-seat area of the wreckage, as was a passenger, Sunderlin, 18, who had been rendered unconscious. Huscher, 56, aircraft worker, who lived nearby, heard the accident. He reported it and then ran to the scene, joining another man who had responded. After Huscher attempted to fight the growing flames with a piece of the wreckage, he and the other man opened the driver’s door, reached inside, and pulled Porter out, learning from him that Sunderlin was in the burning car. After taking Porter to safety, the men returned to the car and again reached inside through the driver’s door, for Sunderlin, whom they found trapped by wreckage. Another man who had responded by then leaned through the window of the passenger door and worked to free Sunderlin as flames grew and spread both toward the passenger side and inside the vehicle, to the dash. After the men freed Sunderlin, Huscher and the first man pulled him from the car and then, joined by the third man, carried him to safety. Flames grew quickly to engulf and destroy the vehicle. Porter and Sunderlin were hospitalized for treatment of their injuries, requiring surgery, but they were not burned.
82974 – 9426
82974-9426