ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610070057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MONETA
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
THE DAY SHE PULLED her granddaughter from a burning trailer, Phyllis West wasn't worried about whether her act would be considered heroic.
Phyllis West still has painful flashbacks to Aug. 5, 1995, the day she saved her granddaughter from a burning trailer.
But "talking about it, praying about it and crying about it" is helping, she said.
Her husband, the Rev. Ed West, describes the day as one "of miracles."
"The Lord had his hand in everything that happened," he said.
"He acted at just the right moment," Phyllis West said. "It just shows you that you can trust yourselves to him, and he acts right on time."
Since that day, West, 48, has felt as though she was protected by a guardian angel. She even keeps a couple of ceramic angels in her kitchen as a reminder that someone was watching out for her.
This week, she got another reminder that someone was watching: She received a Carnegie Medal and a $2,500 check from the Carnegie Hero Fund.
West said she doesn't feel like a hero. She was just trying to save her granddaughter.
Everything happened so quickly, she said, adding, "It takes me longer to tell about it."
West and her husband had taken that day, a Saturday, off to go to Mount Airy, N.C., so she could help their daughter, Karen Lindsay, who was eight months pregnant, clean her trailer home.
Usually, Karen's husband, Allen, a truck driver, is on the road, but that weekend he was home to attend a funeral. Allen and Ed West had gone to the grocery store and post office while their wives were cleaning.
West decided to wash the shower doors outside so the fumes from the cleaning products wouldn't bother Karen. Inside the trailer, Karen's 1-year-old daughter, Beth, was asleep.
West had gone in to check on Beth and was headed out the front door when she heard Karen yell that a runaway truck was headed toward the trailer.
A two-ton truck that had been parked up the road from the trailer had apparently slipped out of gear. West never saw the truck, but heard the explosion after it hit and ruptured the propane gas tank, causing a fire.
West tried to re-enter the front door, but it was jammed. She could see a wall of fire between the kitchen and living room.
She then saw her daughter trying to get through a bedroom window. Karen was close enough to grab Beth, but the child appeared frightened and moved away from the window.
West ran to the window to help, and then told Karen she needed a push into the trailer. Karen stooped and "and shoved me through the window."
"I grabbed Beth and threw her through the window to her mom. I jumped and fell again," West said. By then the fire was at the bedroom door; as West jumped, Karen saw window blinds melting.
West said a neighbor heard the explosion and dialed 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, West, who was becoming hysterical, had walked to the neighbor's house with Karen and Beth. Not knowing that the truck was driverless, West said she was upset because Karen wouldn't let her go behind the trailer to see about the truck driver.
West then began to realize she had bruises, so all three were taken to the hospital. En route, they passed Allen and Ed. A fire truck, on its way to the scene, also passed the men, and they wondered what was happening. As they topped a ridge, they could see the smoke. Ed still chokes up when he talks about arriving at the trailer.
Beth and her mom were fine, but Phyllis West had external and internal bruises that required hospitalization after she returned home. Two weeks after the fire, Karen delivered a son.
West, who assembles electrical connectors at AMP Inc. in Roanoke, first heard from the Carnegie fund in late January or early February; she was told that the members had read a newspaper account of her heroism, and she was asked to verify the information. West is the only Virginian among the 76 persons recognized this year by the fund. Another set of awards will be given in December.
The fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie 92 years ago to recognize people who risk their lives while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
West is using her $2,500 to set up a trust fund for Beth, who'll be 3 in November, and her year-old brother, Stevan.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/ Staff. Phyllis West received a Carnegieby CNBMedal and a $2,500 check from the Carnegie Hero Fund after saving
her granddaughter Beth Lindsay, who will be 3 next month. color.