Saturday, January 23, 1999
Heroic UPS driver honored
Burned man he rescued from truck adds own thanks
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When he looked into the burning, upside-down cab of the wrecked truck on Christmas Eve, Mark Embs saw that the unconscious driver's feet were on fire.
That's when he acted.
Friday, his employer and the grateful family of the driver he saved honored him for pulling David Colvin free of the truck, putting out the flames and staying with him until help arrived.
If not for Mr. Embs and three other men who stopped, Mr. Colvin, 40, of Falmouth would probably not be alive, authorities said.
“He should be proud of what he did,” Marty Hart, chief of the Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department, said of Mr. Embs, who lives in Cold Spring. “The average person wouldn't climb down into a burning truck, and pull somebody out.”
United Parcel Service officials honored the 37-year-old driver during a brief ceremony Friday at the firm's Cincinnati hub. Mr. Embs has worked for UPS for 14 years.
Mr. Embs also has been nominated for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.'s national life saver award.
On the afternoon of the accident, Mr. Embs was nearing his next-to-last stop in Falmouth when Tom Lucius, an off-duty firefighter, flagged him down on northbound U.S. 27, and asked if he had a fire extinguisher. He did.
“When I opened the door (of the overturned truck), smoke was just billowing out,” he said. “I let some of the smoke escape, then I looked inside. That's when I saw the driver's feet were on fire.”
With Mr. Lucius holding the door open, Mr. Embs climbed in.
“(Mr. Colvin) was unconscious, and his feet were tangled up in the steering wheel, so it was like trying to lift dead weight,” Mr. Embs said.
Mr. Embs crawled out of the truck and broke the windshield. With the help of another passerby, he pulled the unconscious driver out.
“It wasn't five or 10 seconds after we got him out that the whole truck was engulfed in flames,” he said.
Mr. Colvin remembers little of that day, but said doctors later told him that he lost control of his truckafter experiencing a seizure.
Released from the hospital a week ago, he faces up to a six-month recuperation.
“I do believe the Lord sent that man who helped me,” Mr. Colvin said.
Chaplains see hope among young inmates
Anderson could add firefighters
Cincinnati schools to seek levy
Cincinnati's original TV weatherman dead
City might publicize sexual predators in newspaper ads
Coach may seek dismissal of charges
County gets mixed review on minority hiring for stadium
Developers pull out of land fight
Divorce program mandatory
Election officials exonerate GOP activist of '96 charges
Felon guard case tough to explain
Hearing set on home for pregnant teens
Heroic UPS driver honored
Kentucky has TV message for teens: Don't have sex
Leader chosen to dress up riverfront
Lebanon workers told not to speak to media
Miami students seek reasons for vandalism, arrests
Mother weeps at arraignment
Murder suspect argues one count
Officer placed on leave
Petronio gives audience an 'experience'
Police think suspect may be serial rapist
Prison suicide remains mystery after 2nd probe
Prosecutor finds self witness at DUI trial
Rain, snow-melt bring flooding
Retail sprouts at Tylersville and I-75
Retiree, 78, charged with child porn
Taft keeps youth services boss
TRISTATE DIGEST
Two robbery suspects arrested
Urban League celebrates 50 years in Cincinnati
Vanover convicted of killing boyfriend
Warren jail earns top rating
