COUNTYWIDE : 3 Residents Will Be Honored for Bravery

As other motorists drove by last April, only Irvine resident David Stephenson and Westminster resident Andrea Needham pulled over in time to help two occupants trapped inside a burning station wagon that had been smashed by a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 5 north of Del Mar.

Stephenson, 44, and Needham, 42, dodged traffic while running from the center divider to the right shoulder and together they pulled an elderly woman and a 4-year-old girl through the driver’s side window. Moments later, flames engulfed the car, popping out the windows.

In recognition of their bravery, Stephenson and Needham will receive Spirit of Courage awards on Thursday from the Burn Institute of San Diego. The nonprofit institute gives the awards each year to people who risk their lives while rescuing people from fires in San Diego County.

A third Orange County resident receiving the award will be Garden Grove resident Alexandre Levine, 25, who pulled an unconscious man from his burning car after a nine-car pileup last year in Encinitas.

The three will be among 12 civilians receiving the awards during an evening banquet at the San Diego Hilton Beach and Tennis Resort.

Stephenson, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, was driving north to Irvine on April 13 after two days of reserve training when he saw smoke in the southbound lanes. As he got closer, he heard someone screaming that people were still inside the car, which had flipped over during the wreck.

Needham, 42, was heading south as she came upon the burning station wagon that had been shoved onto the right shoulder of the freeway.

“When I saw two people in it, I immediately pulled over onto the center divider and ran across the freeway,” Needham said. “Nobody stopped except David and I. . . . They didn’t even stop for David and I to run across the freeway. I was quite horrified.”

Stephenson pulled the 71-year-old woman from the driver’s side window and Needham pulled out the girl. Both victims were conscious but unable to open the smashed doors.

Needham sustained no injuries, but Stephenson suffered minor burns on his left hand and side. His polyester uniform and shoes melted after he climbed into the car to look for a baby amid boxes and other items in the overturned car.

The woman kept shouting that a baby remained inside, Stephenson said. Only later did he learn she was referring to the rescued girl.

Levine narrowly missed being involved in a nine-car pileup as a car coming down a hill on Encinitas Boulevard could not stop and smashed into a line of cars waiting at the red light. Levine was a passenger in a van in a left-turn lane.

One of the cars burst into flames immediately. The flames were filling the passenger side when Levine reached inside to remove the unconscious driver. The searing flames pushed him back on his first attempt but he was able to pull the man out on a second try, he said.

Levine suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation from the rescue. The man he pulled from the car died the next day from injuries sustained during the collision.

“I really wasn’t conscious of what was going on,” Levine said. “I just knew I had to get him out of there. There was a lot of fire so it was either now or never.”