2 MEN PULL WOMAN TO SAFETY; JEEP CATCHES FIRE AFTER BUS COLLISION.

Byline: Steve Carney Daily News Staff Writer

To the two friends, it already looked like a memorable day - gorgeous weather, the company of their loved ones and a motorcycle ride to Santa Barbara for lunch.

But they had no idea how memorable Saturday would turn out to be.

Bob Smith of Saugus and Matt Stains of Valencia pulled a woman from her burning Jeep after it crashed into a bus on Highway 126 in Santa Clarita.

``These two guys, as far as we can tell, are full-fledged heroes,'' Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Leonard Miller said. ``If they hadn't intervened, she certainly would have died.''

Instead, the woman suffered only moderate injuries in the 4 p.m. crash, the California Highway Patrol reported. She was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

No one on the bus was hurt, and she was alone in the Jeep, the CHP reported.

The name of the 42-year-old woman from Fillmore was not immediately disclosed.

She was headed west on Highway 126 near the Magic Mountain theme park, west of the Golden State Freeway, when a Santa Clarita transit bus with about six passengers pulled in front of the Jeep, CHP Officer Todd Powers said. The bus was turning left from Chiquito Canyon Road to travel east on 126, he said.

Smith and his wife, Gloria, and Stains and his girlfriend, Karen Ward, had taken advantage of the splendid weather to ride their Harley-Davidsons to Santa Barbara for lunch. They were heading home, eastbound on 126, when they saw the crash.

``He wouldn't pull in front of a Jeep going 50 mph,'' Smith said he remembers hoping. ``Sure enough, he did.''

The impact toppled the bus partially onto the hood of the Jeep, and threw the bus driver into the stairwell, authorities said. He was not wearing his seat belt, authorities said.

``It could've been a lot worse. He was obviously out of control,'' Miller said. But the bus didn't hit any other vehicles before it stopped.

Smith and Stains crossed oncoming traffic lanes and pulled their motorcycles behind the crushed Jeep, whose front end had just caught fire.

They yanked at the soft convertible top, but it wouldn't come undone, Smith said.

``We found out where the zipper was, but the zipper got caught, so we had to rip it off,'' said Smith, 41. ``When we undid the back, smoke was coming out.

``She was kind of caught between the two seats. The front seats were catching on fire. The fire was coming.

``She was screaming, `Get me out, get me out.' We got her out - just in time. We barely got her out, and it went up,'' he said. Flames filled the cab and engulfed the rest of the Jeep.

``Five or 10 seconds wasted, she would have been burned,'' Smith estimated.

Miller's assessment was even more grave.

``Had they not gotten her out, she would've been incinerated,'' he said.

Smith and Stains, 42, laid the woman on the ground. Smith folded his jacket into a pillow, and Stains held the woman's hand until paramedics arrived.

``That was about it,'' Smith said matter-of-factly. ``I feel good, not a hero. You don't really think about it. Somebody's stuck in there. You just do it. You think about it later.

``We were kind of in the right place at the right time for her. I'm glad we were able to do that.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Firefighters pour water on a Jeep that was engulfed in flames after a crash Saturday. Two witnesses pulled the Jeep driver to safety.

(2--3) Rescue workers at left move a woman toward an ambulance after witnesses pulled her from a burning Jeep. Above, shaken passengers wait for another ride.

David R. Crane/Daily News