Officer

California Highway Patrol

3/30/1997

Special Act Award (Gold)

At approximately 5:36 p.m., Officer Adam Cortinas was eastbound on Interstate 40 when he heard radio traffic concerning a traffic collision. Officer Cortinas responded to the scene, arriving with three minutes of hearing the message. Observing the passenger vehicle in the center divider with flames coming from the rear undercarriage, Officer Cortinas grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran toward the vehicle. Officer Cortinas inquired if anyone was still in the vehicle and was informed there was a woman in the right rear seat. The officer handed the fire extinguisher to an unidentified individual and requested he spray the fire while Officer Cortinas approached the vehicle and attempted to open the rear passenger door. The door was jammed, however the window was down or broken and Officer Cortinas could see a female slumped in the seat. He reached in through the window, put his arms around her and pulled as hard as he could, but was unable to remove her from the vehicle. The smoke and flames coming from beneath the vehicle where Officer Cortinas was standing, forced him back. Bystanders began throwing dirt on the flames in attempt to keep them away from the officer as he made his rescue effort. Officer Cortinas reentered the vehicle and pushed the front seat forward to allow more working room and was once again forced from the vehicle by the flames. The black smoke swirling around inside the vehicle made it almost impossible for Officer Cortinas to see. A third attempt was made to remove the victim from the vehicle. Officer Cortinas used his knife to cut the shoulder harness portion of the seat belt as he again attempted to pull the victim out of the vehicle. At this point the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and the third rescue attempt was aborted. Unfortunately the passenger did not survive the accident.