Trio termed heroes after crash
Published: October 27, 2004
Three people who helped rescue the occupants of a pickup truck when it crashed into a home and burst into flames have been termed heroes by Washington County Sheriff Brian Rahn.
“Had that vehicle continued to burn, and someone couldn’t get out of there, that person could have burned up,” Sheriff Brian Rahn said Monday of the Sunday night incident. “They were absolutely heroes.”
Shane Megonigle was watching a DVD of “The Alamo” with his son, his daughter and one of her friends Sunday evening when the pickup driven by Clint Bartell, 32, of Hartford, smashed into the Megonigle home, punching a hole through the wall, buckling floors and sending furniture tumbling.
“They had just starting shooting off cannons (in the movie) and the truck came right through,” Megonigle said Monday.
Bartell was trapped in the wreckage and his son, John Breitenbach, 10, could not get out of the truck’s cab, Rahn said.
“Matt (Westenberger, a friend of Megonigle’s daughter Cassie) went outside and sprayed the hose,” on the burning pickup, Megonigle said. “Then he noticed the little boy, who was crying and saying that he wanted to get out. We couldn’t get the door open, so Matt broke the window with a pipe.”
After calling rescuers, Megonigle continued to spray water on the driver’s side of the vehicle to keep the flames from reaching Bartell.
Cassie wrapped Breitenbach in a blanket so he would not go into shock, she said.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: