Jeffery Michael Lewis saved Virgil A. Jagelski from burning, Mesa, Arizona, December 11, 2001. Jagelski remained in the driver’s seat of a car after it entered the premises of a service station, knocked over a gasoline pump, and caught fire. Flames immediately broke out underneath the car, which came to rest atop the pump island, and spread to its hood and driver’s side. Lewis, 40, air conditioning contractor, was in his parked vehicle nearby and witnessed the accident. He went to the passenger side of the burning car and opened the door, then reached inside and removed Jagelski’s young son from the front seat and carried him away. Returning to the car, Lewis re-entered it through the passenger door and, kneeling on the front seat, shouted at Jagelski, but Jagelski remained unresponsive. Lewis unfastened Jagelski’s safety belt, grasped him, and, backing through the passenger door, pulled him out of the car and dragged him away as flames continued to grow and spread.
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