Coast Guard Petty Officer pulls 5-year-old from burning car

A commercial trash truck and a car caught fire in the accident. Photo: Anne Arundel Co. Police.

The WTOP Radio website reports:

MILLERSVILLE, Md., March 4, 2009 - A tragedy could have been more tragic if it wasn't for the "absolutely heroic" actions of a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer early Wednesday morning.

Petty Officer Lavelas Luckey ran past several on-lookers at the scene of a fiery four-vehicle crash in Millersville, Md., reached into a burning car and saved a 5-year-old child. ...

As Luckey pulled the child from the car, an Anne Arundel County police officer tried to rescue the driver. He was unaware she was already dead.

"The Coast Guard motto Semper Paratus was demonstrated in the clearest terms today by an individual who placed himself is extreme danger to save a life," Ray says. ...

Luckey was on his way to work at the engineering logistics center at Curtis Bay when he stopped to help.

Semper Paratus, indeed. Read the rest at WTOP.com.