The Amherst Police Department responds to several vehicle accidents every day. On March 18, 2006, Officer Kyle Schraufstetter responded to the report of a motor vehicle accident on South Ellicott Creek Road. He was the first to arrive at the scene and found a car had hit a tree, a pole and another car and was now flames. The driver had suffered a head injury in the crash was trapped inside the burning car.
Officer Schraufstetter grabbed a fire extinguisher and began to extinguish the fire in an attempt to rescue the trapped driver. The fire extinguisher quickly was used up but the fire roared on. He ran back to his car, grabbed another extinguisher and continued battling the flames. Despite the intense heat and potentially explosive situation he again approached the car with a third extinguisher.
Officer Schraufstetter’s attempts to save another person’s life at the risk of his own were courageous and selfless.
