It didn't occur to him he'd be pulling a man from the wreckage of an overturned semi.
Olvera, 33, of Newport
Beach
was northbound on the I-5 Freeway at about 2:30 a.m. - minutes after the truck ran up the side of the 57 Freeway onramp and flipped onto its
roof.
Olvera immediately pulled over.
The overturned truck was gushing fuel.
"There were these two girls on the side of the road calling 911," Olvera said. "I had
taken a fire extinguisher class from Disney
Olvera said he saw diesel
fuel leaking all over the man, who was suspended upside-down in the flipped truck cab.
Olvera pushed through the broken glass, lacerating his face while blindly searching for the ignition. Diesel fuel continued to soak both of them. Olvera helped the driver remove his seatbelt.
"He still couldn't get out, because his leg was pinned," Olvera said. "I was asking him where the key for the ignition was. It seemed like 20 minutes or so, but it had to have been about three or four minutes. Another driver stopped with a fire extinguisher and I saw a flashlight behind me."
A California Highway
Patrol officer had been passing by - paramedics hadn't arrived yet. The officer's flashlight helped Olvera locate the Club steering-wheel lock that
was jammed between the twisted metal, pinning the driver's leg.
With the light from the flashlight, Olvera was able to help the driver angle his leg unharmed from the space where it was lodged.
But the door wouldn't open any farther.
Olvera, with the help of the officer, gripped the driver and directed him how to angle his body to slip through the small space.
Though his face and hands were covered with blood, the driver walked away from the accident. The
truck never caught on
fire.
Olvera said he was just glad the driver was OK.
"To be honest with you, I thought it would be the worst," Olvera said. "It looked like a rocket ship crashed into the side of the road."
No longer needed at the accident
scene, Olvera continued on to Disneyland.
His job is to paint realistic texture on fake rocks or other surfaces. Soaked in diesel fuel and bleeding from minor cuts on his face, Olvera prepared himself for a day of painting resin casts of bamboo in the Enchanted Tiki Room to look like real bamboo.
When he got to Disneyland, however, his supervisor told him to take the day off with pay.
"I showed up, and I was just full of the diesel gas," Olvera said. "They were just, 'Take the day off, we'll make sure you get paid.'"
