Truck Driver Honored for Heroism in Fire

A San Fernando Valley truck driver who dashed into a burning van and pulled its injured driver to safety after an accident on the Ventura Freeway was declared a hero Thursday by the prestigious Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Jackson E. Stallcup, 36, a Vietnam veteran and part-time hog farmer who drives a hazardous materials truck for a living, will receive $2,500 in cash and a medal from the Pittsburgh-based commission, which since 1904 has recognized 7,367 people who risked their own lives to save others.

Stallcup said that the driver trapped in his burning van, begging for aid, reminded him of wounded soldiers crying for help in Vietnam and that he knew he “couldn’t handle it again” if he left him to burn.

According to commission investigators and the California Highway Patrol, Stallcup saved the life of Wilson Ross, 54, of Los Angeles on Oct. 6 after an accident on the Ventura Freeway in Glendale.

Out of Control

Ross’ westbound bread delivery van was struck from behind by a pickup truck and went out of control, overturning and catching fire, CHP Officer Linda Powell said. Ross was knocked unconscious and was left hanging upside down by a seat belt.

CHP reports said Stallcup saw the accident, stopped and came to Ross’ aid.

“He entered the burning truck through the shattered windshield and attempted to cut Ross out of the seat belt but then located the buckle and released him,” Powell said. “He removed him through the windshield just moments before the truck was engulfed in flames.”

Stallcup, who was on the road Tuesday in Central California, said in a telephone interview that when he stopped his 18-wheeler on the freeway and saw Ross still in the burning truck, he had no choice but to try and save him.

Another motorist who had stopped “told me not to go in, that it was going to blow,” Stallcup said. “I said, ‘There’s a guy in there, he needs help.’ I went in.”

Stallcup said another passer-by went into the van to help but left when flames and smoke started filling the van. Stallcup said the knife he had with him was too dull to cut the nylon seat belt, and Ross’ body was doubled over the belt buckle. He said Ross regained consciousness and asked him not to leave him.

“I told him I wouldn’t leave,” Stallcup said. “I remembered Vietnam and people crying out for help when they were hurt or dying. I knew I couldn’t handle it if it would happen again. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left this guy and heard him screaming while the truck burned.”

Scorched His Arm

Stallcup said that as flames scorched his arm and set Ross’ pants afire, he finally was able to release the seat belt. “He came down like a side of beef on top of me,” Stallcup recalled.

“I crawled out with him on top. As soon as we got out, I heard an explosion. I was lucky. It was a good day for him, a good day for me.”

Ross, who was hospitalized after the accident, is still recovering and has not returned to work, officials said. Stallcup was treated for minor burns.

Walter Rutkowski, secretary of the fund founded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie to honor civilian heroism, said a clipping of a newspaper story on Stallcup’s actions prompted the fund to investigate the case and honor the truck driver. Stallcup was one of two Californians among 16 people honored Thursday.

Stallcup, who lives on a ranch in Little Tujunga Canyon and raises hogs when he is not on the road delivering hazardous materials for a Glendale trucking company, said he already has plans for the Carnegie money.

“I’ve lived on that ranch for 15 years without electricity,” he said. “That’s where the money is going, to Mr. Edison to pay to put a transformer up there.”