Highway Maintenance Leadworker

Department of Transportation

6/26/2018

Special Service Award (Silver)

On July 25, 2018, Royce Hiner and co-worker Steven Hawthorne were traveling south on Interstate 5 towards Corning on an irrigation call. While in route, they came upon a van that was on fire. Hiner retrieved a fire extinguisher while Hawthorne called the incident into dispatch. When Hiner got to the vehicle, the owner was running around frantically trying to put the fire out. Hiner advised the man to get away from the vehicle and worked to free a dog still in the vehicle. While trying to remove the dog from the vehicle, the owner tried multiple times to get back into the vehicle for possessions. Hiner told the man to stay out of the vehicle and restrained him several times to keep him from doing so. As Hiner was pulling the man from the vehicle the last time, it burst into flames. The owner panicked, thinking his children were still in the van. Hiner, along with a female off-duty first responder, kept the man from getting near the vehicle. The three children were safe and accounted for in a different bystander's vehicle, along with the man's wife. The man then went into a seizure. When deemed safe, Hiner and the first responder pulled the man further away from the burning vehicle. The vehicle’s fire then spread to nearby vegetation, threatening homes and prompting voluntary evacuations. Fire personnel then arrived and extinguished the flames. Hiner was later treated for smoke inhalation at a nearby hospital. With no regard for his own safety, Mr. Hiner went above and beyond the call of duty. The State of California takes great pride in presenting this Silver Medal of Valor to California Department of Transportation Highway Maintenance Leadworker Royce Hiner.