Great Lakes firefighter pulled from burning car in Decatur

DECATUR -- Firefighters in Decatur say they have never seen such heroic determination as handyman Anthony McNeil showed recently in rescuing another man from a burning car.

The 43-year-old McNeil was watching television Friday afternoon when he heard the car hit a tree. He ran to the scene and smashed in the rear window of the burning car with a brick, but could not pull the driver out. He then pried open a door with his bare hands and rescued him that way.

The crash victim turned out to be a former Decatur neighbor, 29-year-old Navy Firefighter Jumale Howard, who was on his way from the Great Lakes Naval Station to visit his family. Howard was recovering Saturday from a dislocated hip, two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a head wound.