William Anthony Rubio

William Anthony Rubio rescued Edward Moorehead from burning, Bagdad, Arizona, January 13, 2025. Moorehead, 62, a truck driver, was trapped inside his burning tractor trailer along a highway shoulder after an accident. Rubio, 37, maintenance worker, was driving to work in the opposite direction when he saw the burning vehicle and stopped. Flames at least 6 feet high burned at the front of the engine area and in the rear of the cab’s exterior; Moorehead also saw flames at his feet and issuing from beneath the dashboard on the passenger side of the cab. Rubio crossed a dirt median and ran to the tractor trailer. He attempted to open the driver’s door, but was unsuccessful. Rubio then used a front tire as a step to elevate himself. Using the wheel and fender for support, he climbed onto the exposed engine, which brought him within reach of the cab. Rubio then punched through the cracked windshield, and, while steadying himself on the engine, leaned into the cab to his waist, seeing through smoke that flames were also burning at the cab’s rear wall. Placing his arms under Moorehead’s underarms, Rubio maneuvered Moorehead out from under the steering wheel, which had been pinned against Moorehead’s legs. Rubio then lifted Moorehead, who outweighed him, up and onto the dashboard, at which point Moorehead, with Rubio’s help, was able to crawl out of the cab and onto the engine. They then descended to the ground together. Disoriented, Moorehead then stepped into the path of an oncoming tractor trailer, but Rubio grasped him and pulled him back, narrowly avoiding the vehicle. Rubio and Moorehead then crossed the lanes to safety at the median, where they waited inside Rubio’s vehicle for emergency personnel. Moorehead suffered abrasions to both knees, a laceration on his thigh, and a head injury. Rubio inhaled smoke; he recovered without medical treatment.

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