Valley Journal
Valley Journal

This Week’s e-Edition

Current Events

Latest Headlines

What's New?

Send us your news items.

NOTE: All submissions are subject to our Submission Guidelines.

Announcement Forms

Use these forms to send us announcements.

Birth Announcement
Obituary

Sheriff’s report: man who saved other from fiery crash honored

Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local. You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.



Subscribe now to stay in the know!

Already a subscriber? Login now

 News from Lake County Sheriff Don Bell 

LAKE COUNTY — Lake County citizens aided in helping law enforcement with two incidents last week that deserve gratitude. 

On Aug. 16, at around 1:10 p.m., a two-vehicle crash occurred at mile marker 41 on U.S. Highway 93.  

A Dodge truck, leaving Eagle Pass Trail, failed to yield to oncoming traffic while turning south onto U.S. Highway 93. 

A southbound Chevy Suburban, pulling a camper, collided with the rear end of the Dodge. The crash caused the Suburban driver to be trapped in the vehicle, but the rest of the family in the Suburban was able to escape as the vehicle caught on fire. 

Leslie Martin, of Polson, began recording the incident with her cell phone. What can be seen in the video is a very harrowing and rapidly developing emergency. Minutes prior to the arrival of any emergency services, a group of citizens can be seen attempting to utilize fire extinguishers to tamp down the fire created by the vehicle. Others tried unsuccessfully to open the door of the Suburban to extricate the trapped driver. While this occurred, smoke and flames began to increase.  

Chad Killorn, of Ravalli, was one of the citizens assisting during the incident. Killorn and another unidentified man pried the door of the Suburban open enough to get a strap looped through the window opening. Killorn is then seen on the video quickly retrieving his large flatbed truck and pulling up to the burning vehicle.  

The strap was attached to the front of Killorn’s truck, and he attempted to pull the door open with it, but the attempt failed. The strap was replaced, and the second attempt was a success. 

As the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames and smoke, Killorn and others quickly removed the driver from the Suburban and dragged him away to safety. There was not a single second to spare with the Suburban blazing with fire and smoke when the driver was removed. 

Although it was a team effort by many, Killorn’s quick and assertive action stood out as exemplary. He took a leadership role in directing the effort and put in place the old-fashioned Montana ingenuity necessary to solve a problem that was not going to wait for emergency services. Killorn is being awarded the Lake County Sheriff’s Citizen Lifesaver Award. Killorn was given the Lake County Sheriff’s Citizen Lifesaver Award and a challenge coin. Ninepipes Lodge also donated a $100 gift card for him. 

The Sheriff’s Office would like to emphasize that it took a team effort by many people to save the man’s life, but Killorn’s particular actions were able to ensure the success of the efforts, and without his actions, this would have turned out differently. Gratitude from the Sheriff’s Office is extended to all of the people who helped out in this situation. This summer has seen a high amount of successful and appropriate citizen involvement in incidents, which have aided emergency services. 

In other news, on Monday, Aug. 24, at around 5 p.m., a citizen called 911 to report a fire in the trees, located north of the old Plum Creek Mill off of Light Road in Pablo. The citizen observed a suspicious person in the area and reported this to the 911-call center. The Ronan Fire Department was paged.  

Prior to their arrival of the fire department, a Lake County Deputy Sheriff arrived to assess the fire and determined it to be too involved to suppress with a fire extinguisher; however, the deputy did locate the suspicious male nearby. The deputy’s investigation led to an arrest. Julian Draper, 33, of Pablo was the male who was arrested. He is currently in the Lake County Jail and has been charged with arson.

The Ronan Fire Department, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Division of Fire and workers from a nearby job site aided in the suppression of the fire, which had potential to become a major incident that could have threatened homes and other buildings.  

The Sheriff’s Office would like to extend our gratitude to citizens in our community, such as the caller in this case and the nearby workers who took a vested interest in helping.   

Sponsored by: