1 . A Hero in Pajamas

It was late, about 10:15 pm when Janice Esposito jumped into her car and began the 20-minute drive home to her husband and seven-year-old son. Out of nowhere, a car ______ hers on one side, pushing her backward some 100 feet onto the railroad ______. She sat in the car, injured and ______ by the impact.

Pete DiPinto, a volunteer firefighter and ______ teacher, was getting ready for ______ when he heard the loud noise and ______ glass coming from not far outside his bedroom window. Without ______, DiPinto, 64, ran out of the door with his pajamas (睡衣) on. “Any firefighter would have done what I did,” he said later. “We’re always on ______.”

The first car he came upon was the one that had hit Esposito. Once DiPinto ______ the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Esposito’s car ______ the railroad tracks. Suddenly he heard a loud roar signaling an on­coming ______. He even saw the headlight of the train. DiPinto ran to Esposito’s car and knocked ______ on the driver’s side window. But she just looked at him, her ______ unfocused.

“Honey, you’re on the railroad tracks,” DiPinto ______. “We have to get you off right now!” He pulled on the handle, but the door was out of ______ and couldn’t open. The train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was ______ toward them. DiPinto ran to the passenger side and opened the door. He ______ the airbags, seized her arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and walked her to ______. Within six seconds, the train ______ into the car. “It was like a Hollywood movie,” DiPinto said.

The next morning, a report of CBS said, “Last night, the ______ arrived in pajamas, not in a fire truck.”