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Cool heads save lives amid fiery accident
There's no denying that the fiery March 12 crash that claimed a woman's life was a tragedy. But it could have been a lot worse if not for a few people who met crisis with courage.
Bob Berdan, a senior paramedic for Metro West Ambulance, was driving south on Oregon 99W that afternoon after he and his partner, Jeremi Ruda, had just finished an emergency run. They were headed toward a post near Oregon 217 to position their ambulance for another call.
"We were stopped at the light," said Berdan, 53. "I was thinking about getting an iced tea."
Suddenly, a Toyota Camry raced past them. Within seconds, they heard a crash and saw a Honda Accord, its rear end mangled, spin around and burst into flames before bouncing into the northbound lanes and hitting a Chevy Cavalier.
Berdan radioed for help and told Ruda to grab their fire extinguisher. Ruda, who had firefighter training, directed the extinguisher's stream under the burning Honda, to beat back the orange flames. The car's horn was stuck -- blaring.
Read more here...
There's no denying that the fiery March 12 crash that claimed a woman's life was a tragedy. But it could have been a lot worse if not for a few people who met crisis with courage.
Bob Berdan, a senior paramedic for Metro West Ambulance, was driving south on Oregon 99W that afternoon after he and his partner, Jeremi Ruda, had just finished an emergency run. They were headed toward a post near Oregon 217 to position their ambulance for another call.
"We were stopped at the light," said Berdan, 53. "I was thinking about getting an iced tea."
Suddenly, a Toyota Camry raced past them. Within seconds, they heard a crash and saw a Honda Accord, its rear end mangled, spin around and burst into flames before bouncing into the northbound lanes and hitting a Chevy Cavalier.
Berdan radioed for help and told Ruda to grab their fire extinguisher. Ruda, who had firefighter training, directed the extinguisher's stream under the burning Honda, to beat back the orange flames. The car's horn was stuck -- blaring.
Read more here...