Joe Palmer and Hudson Smith were not the first motorists to spot a wrecked, flaming Jeep off Interstate 75.
But they were the first to do something about it.
Out of the corner of his eye Wednesday, Mr. Palmer saw some drivers rubbernecking what looked like a bad one-car crash off the Collegedale exit just after 10 a.m. The former soldier, trained in combat lifesaving techniques, weaved his pickup truck through the vehicles to get a closer look.
The Jeep was filled with paint supplies, Mr. Palmer said. Burning plastic and fuel smells saturated the air while white paint splattered all over the ground and grass. A small fire had started in the Jeep, but the men couldn’t see the driver.
Then Mr. Smith spotted him. Forty-seven-year-old Clint Defur was unconscious with multiple cuts, bruises and broken bones, lying underneath the rear driver’s side of the Jeep. His leg was pinned against the exit sign he’d slammed into while driving down the ramp.