Milton P. Johnson, Jr., saved Ione G. Cottrill from burning, Santa Barbara, California, September 11, 1966. Mrs. Cottrill, 37, lost control of her four-door sedan, and it plunged 75 feet down a steep bank. The front end was badly damaged, and gasoline leaking from the fuel tank caught fire. Mrs. Cottrill was injured, knocked unconscious, and thrown to the floor. Ignoring warnings from onlookers, Johnson, 40, telephone lineman, ran to the driver’s side of the automobile, where another man had opened the door but then had retreated from the burning vehicle. Flames three feet high covered the rear half of the sedan. Inside the automobile flames nearly filled the rear compartment and were spreading forward. Johnson was within two feet of flames as he extended his upper body into the sedan and took hold of Mrs. Cottrill. Exerting maximum strength, he pulled her from the automobile and dragged her to 10 feet from it. The other man then ran to him and aided in taking Mrs. Cottrill farther away. Her hair was singed but she had sustained no burns. She was hospitalized and recovered from her injuries. 49855-5380
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