FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 28, 2000

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

PULLS MAN FROM BURNING HOUSE

COLUMBIA – A South Carolina State Transport Police Officer, on his way to assist another STP officer on a traffic stop, pulled a man from a burning business last night just off U.S. 25 in Greenville County around 8 p.m.

L/Cpl. John Price was on his way to help a fellow officer in a DUI stop when a bystander flagged him down and told him a nearby house was on fire. Price went to the house and heard someone yelling inside. He kicked the door in and found Jeffery Scott Vaughn lying on the floor where he had collapsed trying to escape the fire in the antiques store, where he also lived.

Price and the bystander, Cecil Shipley, pulled Vaughn from the house to safety. Vaughn was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina burn unit, where he was listed in critical condition this morning.

"I did what I felt like anyone else would have done," Price said. "I couldn’t just leave him. I don’t think I did anything extraordinary. I just did what I had to do."

Price has been employed with STP, a division of the S.C. Department of Public Safety, for five years. STP enforces federal and state safety regulations and size and weight requirements for commercial motor vehicles. Price is part of the S.T.A.R. (Strategic Traffic Alcohol Radar) unit, which conducts special traffic and enforcement efforts to keep the roads free of intoxicated drivers, unsafe vehicles and illegal activity.

"We are fortunate to have officers like John Price who won’t hesitate to help others," said STP Col. George Wilson. "As officers, we are often called upon to do things that are not necessarily in our job descriptions. I am so proud of L/Cpl. Price for his heroic efforts."

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