Three firefighters with the Wright City Fire District received the Liberty Mutual FireMark Award for their part in saving the life of 17-year-old Christapher Westfall or Wentzville.In late May, Westfall traveled down U.S. Highway 61 lost control of his vehicle, which went down an embankment, into a tree and pinned him between the car and the tree. That set off a series of events Wentzville File Protection Capt. Shelby Wilcox described as one of the longest, most difficult extractions she had ever experienced.“In 20 years, this was by far the hardest extraction I have ever seen, that had a happy outcome. We have a saying, ‘inch by inch,’ because of that call. It took us two hours to peel the car off of his leg,” she said.Local paramedics considered removing Westfall’s leg at the scene of the accident in order to save his life as his pulse began for fade. Eventually, an all call was sent for assistance from any department with available men and women.Wright City Fire District Capt. Mike Holtmeier, Engineer Chris Johnson and Scot Gibson, who was promoted to captain just hours before the FireMark ceremony, responded to the call.When they arrived, they assisted in cordoning off the scene and were primed to assist in taking over for the original first responders when Westfall was finally freed.“We were just there to stand by and, once there was about to be a swap-over, they freed him . . . We were there about an hour and a half.”Holtmeier said.Wilcox described the moment Westfall was freed as a shockwave that exhilarated everyone at the scene.“When we finally got that tug and his leg came out, we got an adrenaline rush and almost threw him out of the car,” Wilcox said.A reserved Westfall thanked the men and women assisted in saving his life, who responded from Lincoln, St. Charles and Warren counties.The Liberty Mutual FireMark Award goes to those emergency workers who attempt to save another person’s life with disregard for their own.Firemark Award