Local News in Brief : Man Honored for Heroism

Donald Green still does not know why he risked his life on Dec. 16, 1986, to rescue a Chatsworth teen-ager who was trapped in a burning car.

“It’s mysterious to me,” the 30-year-old Palmdale resident said. “When I saw the flames start up, I went into oblivion. I don’t know whatever it was that gave me God’s speed to make me do what I did. I guess I just realized that something had to be done.”

Green was driving near Warner Center in the West San Fernando Valley when a car, driven by Shannon Hamrick, 18, burst into flames after it collided with another vehicle in heavy late-afternoon traffic. According to authorities, Green ran to the car, pulled the girl out and used the light jacket he was wearing to put out the flames burning her hair and skin.

They called Green a hero for saving the girl, who suffered burns over 40% of her body.

And now he has been certified as one.

He was one of 19 people who were honored, and given $2,500, by the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission for their deeds. Two Orange County men, John A. Floyd, 29, of Garden Grove, and Rubin A. Vigil, 28, of Buena Park, were also honored for rescuing a couple and their two children from a burning car on May 25, 1987.