School bus drivers cited for heroism

Jace Radke

Friday, June 25, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

A wrong turn by three Clark County School District bus drivers on vacation in California turned out to be right for a 15-year-old boy trapped in a burning car last October.

Debra Cleveland, Mary Chipman and Vicki Stazney were honored on Wednesday at the California Highway Patrol's San Bernardino area headquarters for their rescue of Richard Franklin on Oct. 18.

"They took a wrong turn and came upon a car that had rolled and was burning," CHP Trooper Oscar Medellin said. "They crawled through broken glass and cut him out of his seatbelt to rescue him."

Cleveland and Chipman were given commendations for bravery, and Stazney received a certificate for assisting with traffic control.

The three were on their way back to Las Vegas after a motorhome trip to Lytle Creek, Calif., when they took a wrong turn and ended up on State Route 138 in an unincorporated rural area of San Bernardino County.

At about 12:30 p.m. they spotted a Honda Accord that had run off the road, overturned and caught fire, Medellin said.

The driver and one passenger were able to scramble out of the car, but a semi-conscious Franklin remained secured by a seat belt in the passenger seat.

Cleveland, 44, crawled to the car and tried to pull Franklin out but couldn't because of the tension his body was creating against the seat belt, and a fishing pole that he was clutching.

Cleveland got a knife from the driver of the Accord and cut Franklin out of his seat belt. She broke the fishing pole and with the help of Chipman, 36, pulled Franklin from the vehicle just seconds before it was engulfed in flames, Medellin said.