FROM ANONYMOUS TO FREEWAY HEROES FOUR WHO SAVED MAN'S LIFE LAUDED.

Byline: CORTNEY FIELDING Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Eric Reuel barely remembers the accident that almost killed him three months ago, and until Monday didn't even know the four guys from Agoura Hills who saved his life.

The 21-year-old Crate & Barrel retail clerk was driving home to West Hills along the Ventura Freeway after a late January night with friends when he said he fell asleep.

The next thing Reuel recalled, he was waking up inside his burning Lexus, choking on smoke. After desperately trying to push open the car doors, he realized he was trapped.

``I thought I was going to die,'' he said.

By the time rescue workers arrived, his vehicle was too engulfed in flames for anyone inside to have survived. Luckily, Reuel was no longer inside.

Three Agoura Hills teenagers and their 21-year-old friend had broken the car's windows, freeing Reuel seconds before it caught fire.

``All of a sudden, I saw faces. I felt air,'' Reuel said about the rescue.

The young men stayed with Reuel until paramedics arrived, then quietly drove off. Reuel never got an opportunity to thank them.

On Monday, an emotional Reuel and his rescuers met for the first time at a California Highway Patrol station, where Carl Brocket, 18, Damon Michaels, 18, Brandon Sprout, 19, and Ivan Robles, 21, were honored for their heroism.

Officials said the young men were driving home along the same stretch of freeway at 2:30 a.m. when they saw the burning Lexus. Without hesitation, Brocket, who received firefighting and EMT training in high school as part of a cadet program, took the lead and ``jetted'' across five lanes to reach the burning vehicle, CHP Capt. Steve Badilla said.

His friends said they were amazed with Brocket's quick actions.

Brocket said he began kicking the door with his foot before his friends caught up and, with pieces of debris from the crash in hand, began breaking windows.

``We started reaching back in the car and feeling around,'' he said.

They were then able to rouse a dazed Reuel, and help him out a window. Reuel escaped with minor injuries. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for a fractured jaw and cuts and bruises.

While officials still don't know all the details surrounding the accident, they said it began when an ``admittedly drowsy'' Reuel clipped an 18-wheel tractor-trailer driving alongside him. The impact sent his Lexus spinning out of control into the center divider, where it caught fire.

On Monday, Reuel was finally able to thank the men who saved him. If they hadn't been there, ``I have no doubt I wouldn't be here today,'' he said.

While Brocket, who hopes to join the Marines and later become a firefighter, said he was touched to meet Reuel, he remains humble about the experience.

``I'm sure there are a lot of people who would have done the same thing in my position,'' he said.

But Badilla insisted the four were heroes. Of several cars passing by at the time, they were the only travelers to pull over and help the victim, he said.

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Three months after a crash on the Ventura Freeway left him trapped in his burning car, Eric Reuel, center, on Monday meets rescuers Ivan Robles, 21, left, and Carl Brocket, 19.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer