Countywide : Patrolman Honored for Freeway Rescues

A day after rescuing two men from a fiery auto crash on the Costa Mesa Freeway last May, California Highway Patrol Officer Keith Thornhill said his act of bravery was “kind of what the job is all about. I don’t think anybody’s trained for it, you just jump in with both feet and do it.”

He spoke of his job as he lay on a gurney in a hospital emergency room, where he was treated for second-degree burns to both hands and his right arm, and a cut he suffered while rescuing the motorist and his passenger.

On Friday, state officials placed Thornhill’s heroism in the “exceptionally courageous” category.

The Orange County-based officer was among nine CHP officers from throughout the state who received Medals of Valor from Gov. Pete Wilson during ceremonies at the state Capitol.

The Medal of Valor is the equivalent of the congressional Medal of Honor for state employees, and is the highest honor bestowed by the state for acts of “extraordinary heroism,” CHP officials said.

Thornhill’s ordeal began during rush-hour traffic on the Costa Mesa Freeway near the MacArthur Boulevard off-ramp when he stopped his unmarked patrol car to help a disoriented pedestrian who was wandering in the car-pool lane.

A compact Isuzu slammed on the brakes behind the patrol car, but a Cadillac rear-ended the Isuzu, sending it out of control. The Isuzu also caught fire.

Thornhill battled smoke and flames as he broke the car’s windows to rescue the two men in the Isuzu. The Isuzu’s driver regained consciousness just before the officer pulled him from the car, but the passenger remained unconscious and had to be dragged away from the fiery auto.

“I smashed the flames on his shirt and his hair with my hands and dragged him about 50 feet from the flames,” Thornhill said after the accident.

CHP officials said later that witnesses called the Santa Ana station to report the officer’s bravery.

And one of the victims--David Fire--said of Thornhill: “He’s an incredible person. He risked his life to save ours.”

Thornhill, 26, is off routine traffic patrol duty and assigned to the unit that monitors the safety of commercial vehicles, a CHP spokeswoman said.