Oct. 20--SAN FRANCISCO -- A Concord man was rescued Wednesday from a fiery crash involving the big rig he was driving on southbound Highway 101, police said.
Michael Finerty, 52, was unconscious when he was pulled from the wreck by San Francisco resident Keenia Williams, 22, who witnessed the 5 a.m. crash where the highway crosses over 16th Street near Interstate 80, the California Highway Patrol said. Williams was honored by CHP and fire officials at a noon news conference at CHP headquarters.
Williams told reporters she was driving her 5-year-old daughter to school when she looked into her rearview mirror to see a black vehicle spinning out. Another car hit that one before the big rig Finerty was driving slammed into the cars and overturned.
Finerty crawled out of the truck before losing consciousness, the CHP said, and Williams told reporters she poured water on his face. Finerty then regained consciousness and was rescued after firefighters had put out the blaze, the CHP said.
Traffic in the city's South Market neighborhood was blocked for hours, and the two left lanes of the highway were closed until shortly before 11:30 a.m., the CHP said. The two right lanes opened about 30 minutes later.
Rick Hurd covers public safety. Contact him at 925-945-4780 and follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/3rdERH.
