COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WOWO): A hospital in Columbia City hosted a special luncheon Thursday to honor some local heroes.
Parkview Whitley Hospital honored 17 first responders with “Guardian Angel Awards” for their response to a major semi crash on US 30 back in May that featured a semi rolling up the back of an empty car-carrier and bursting into flames.
The Journal Gazette reports that those honored saved the life of an Ohio man who was driving the truck on the bottom of that pile-up, who was trapped when the fire started and thought he would die before passing motorists fought the flames, giving rescuers time to pull him to safety.
The following people were honored:
From the Columbia City Fire Department: Troy Fralick, Jeff Herendeen, Chris LaRue, Anees Qureshi, Doug Reed, and Kyle Walters.
From the Columbia City Police Department: David Calhoun, Tony Hively, and Trey Insley.
From the Columbia Township Fire Department: Jim Acres.
From the Whitley County Health Department: Scott Wagner.
From the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department: Tony Helfrich, Scott Schmidt, and Jason Spencer.
From Parkview Whitley EMS: Matt Bock, Blake Forrester, and Derek Jenkins.
LaRue, Helfrich, Forrester and Reed also received the Medal of Valor from the Indiana Fire Marshal’s Office.
