Equipment Operator II

Department of Transportation

1/29/2016

Special Service Award (Silver)

On January 29, 2016, at 4:05 p.m., it was very wet and rainy, when a pickup truck struck a guardrail on westbound I-80, left the roadway, overturned, and rolled down the steep embankment, landing upside down in Canyon Creek below. A Caltrans sand truck saw the incident and put out a call for help. Caltrans Equipment Operator II James Anderson was nearby and arrived at the scene along with California Highway Patrol Officers Andy Murrill and Kevin Maniord. They saw the driver outside of the truck yelling that a female passenger was still trapped inside. The three men jumped into the freezing creek and waded through chest deep water to reach a visibly injured, bleeding, and nearly unresponsive woman whose head was barely above the water. Mr. Anderson was able to cut the woman free from her seat belt, pull her out of the vehicle, and, with the officers’ assistance, carry her back across the swiftly moving current of Canyon Creek. Officers Murrill and Maniord were helping him lift the woman out of the creek when he lost his footing and was in danger of being swept downstream. Caltrans co-worker Kenneth Myers was on the embankment and grabbed his belt, stopping the officers, Mr. Anderson, and the woman from being carried off down the creek and into a several hundred foot long culvert pipe taking the rushing water underneath Interstate 80. Caltrans Maintenance Supervisor Rodney Walker arrived, climbed down the embankment, and assisted the men with lifting the woman out of the water and carrying her up the very steep embankment to wait for the ambulance.