When a speeding car crashed into a parked vehicle on El Pueblo Blvd. early in the morning Friday, Feb. 21, Joseph Calo and Randy Evans were roused out of their beds by the collision near their homes.

When the two got outside they found the vehicle with two occupants and a fire starting to grow. Neither of the people in the car were able to help themselves out of the vehicle. Calo pulled the woman driver from the car and Evans moved the passenger away from the burning vehicle.

At the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, March 3, Calo and Evans were honored with a Town of Fountain Hills Citizen Lifesaving Award presented by Mayor Ginny Dickey.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Capt. Larry Kratzer said by the time deputies and firefighters arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in fire. He said it was clear to emergency personnel on the scene that if Calo and Evans had not acted it would have been a very different and tragic outcome.

Fire Chief Dave Ott said the two people in the vehicle were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but none were burn related. Ott said that makes a big difference when recovering from such an accident.

Calo said he was moved when he learned that the woman he pulled out of the car was the mother of two young children, and said he was honored to be part of giving her another chance.