Two local men can thank their lucky stars that CHP Officer Ryan Swanson was on duty in Twentynine Palms May 31. According to a CHP press release, Swanson had stopped a motorist for speeding on Lear Avenue near Amboy Road, when he saw dust in the distance near Two Mile Road east of Lear. As he was checking the speeding motorist’s information, the dust turned to smoke. Swanson returned to the driver and told him it was his lucky day, he was not getting a speeding ticket, and Swanson then drove off to the scene of the smoke. Evidently the driver of the car, later identified as Ronald Blaze, had had some sort of medical incident and the 2011 Buick drove off the road into the desert, becoming high centered on a berm in the desert. When Swanson arrived, he found flames coming out from under the car. Swanson used his fire extinguisher to put out the blaze, and then realized there was a disoriented man in the driver’s seat. Blaze, a Marine captain from the Twentynine Palms Marine base, was suffering some kind of health-related issue and was unable to get out of his car. Swanson grabbed him and pulled him from the burning vehicle. Paramedics soon arrived and Blaze was taken to Hi-Desert Medical Center. Neither Swanson or Blaze sustained injuries from the fire.
