Two rescues recalled, two rescuers praised in B.G.

Rhett Hazen, Inman’s friend who was driving, honked his car horn. They were goofing around, yelling and honking at the immobile vehicle. Eventually, Hazen got out to see what was going on. A young man was at the wheel and appeared drunk. He got out, shook hands with Hazen, and got back into the car. Then, the car took off, speeding up Parkway Avenue well above the posted speed limit of 25 mph.

Concerned, they followed the car, which was driving in the center passing lane. Inman, familiar with Battle Ground streets, knew that the car would eventually strike a raised pedestrian walkway if he continued in the center lane. Inman estimates the car was going 50 mph. He could barely make out the car by the time there was a loud crack and the car’s lights disappeared. Car parts were strewn across the roadway and black smoke curled into the night sky. The license plate, RACHET, lay in the middle of the road.

At 1:02 a.m., calls from neighbors near the intersection, Ninth Street and Parkway Avenue, started flooding 911. The flames stretched too high for anyone to tell what type of car had crashed and caught on fire. Dispatchers advised people to stand far away from the vehicle, later identified by police as a 1994 Honda Accord.

Inman got out of Hazen’s car and sprinted to the fire. Flames were coming out of the rear and the driver’s side, and gasoline had pooled around the car. He froze briefly, thinking back to movie scenes with deadly car explosions. He had to tell himself to not be afraid of dying.

Instead of turning back, he kicked in the passenger window and unlocked the door. The 16-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was slumped over the wheel. Inman reached over and dragged him out of the car, onto the grass by the sidewalk.

“He pulled him out. Oh my gosh,” said one caller to a 911 dispatcher.

By the time emergency responders arrived, the car was engulfed in flames. The driver was incoherent and in pain, Inman said, but alive. He was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Last Inman heard, the teen he rescued had a cracked sternum and bruises on his legs. He never really talked to him, though.

Looking back, Inman says he didn’t want to live with the guilt of not saving someone who could be saved. He wasn’t surprised by his quick-thinking actions — he expected it of himself.

“We need people willing to help,” Inman said.

7:45 a.m.

Cherise Moore left the starting line for the 8-kilometer race in Battle Ground Village during the city’s annual Harvest Day celebration.

Moore got her medal, as well. She finished dead last in the 8K race — 171st out of 171 runners. She was less than a mile from the finish line when she stopped to help the fallen runner.

“His safety was more important to them than finishing in a timely matter,” Benzler said.

Moore regularly runs competitively and typically places in the middle of her age bracket. She went on to compete in the Every Girl’s 5K Run in Ridgefield about a month later.

The fact that Moore and James and Inman all stopped to help someone who needed it on a midsummer Sunday is no surprise to Benzler. “There’s always a helping hand around every corner,” she said.