Gainesville man hailed as a 'hero' after Ga 400 wreck

ALPHARETTA - Three men, including one from Gainesville and another from Cumming, were hailed as heroes Tuesday after rescuing three men from a burning minivan on Ga. Highway 400. <br> <br> The accident, which left a Roswell man dead, happened just after 6 a.m. when a tractor-trailer and a minivan collided on the highway north of Atlanta. The minivan crossed the median, overturned and caught fire. <br> <br> Alpharetta police officer Chris Lagerbloom said the ``heroes&#39;&#39; - off-duty DeKalb County police officer Russell Bodin, Stanley Lovell of Cumming, and John Mercer of Gainesville - stopped and pulled three men out through the minivan&#39;s broken windshield. Mercer crawled into the burning van through the windshield to help the injured men.<br> <br> The three were taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital along with another man, who escaped on his own. All four suffered only minor injuries. <br> <br> ``If those people hadn&#39;t stopped to render some assistance and pull those three people out, we feel reasonably assured that they would no longer be with us,&#39;&#39; Lagerbloom said. <br> <br> Lovell, 46, of Cumming, said he was driving to work when the accident occurred. <br> <br> ``There was only so much room in the front of the van, so as they got the people out, I was getting them away from the van,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I thought the van was going to blow up any second.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Mercer, a 38-year-old former Marine, who is a window replacement worker, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, &#34;With every crackle and hiss, I thought the gas tank was going to blow. I figured if I was going to die, it would at least be quick.&#34;