Three dramatic rescues recently won the attention of Montgomery County officials, who recognized a group of "everyday heroes" for risking their lives to save others.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), County Council President Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) and Fire Chief Tom Carr were at the Dec. 22 ceremony at the Executive Office Building in Rockville.

In August, seven bystanders helped save a driver whose car crashed into a tree on White Ground Road in Boyds.

Perry Duffin, 55,Nanette Hunter, 46,Bart Servaes, 40,Roland Talley Jr., 50,Richard Talley, 41,Benjamin Warner, 16, and an unidentified individual, who left the scene, were credited with saving the life ofCarlos Sanchez-Borjas, 19, of Germantown.

The rescuers used a knife to cut Sanchez-Borjas out of his seatbelt to pull him to safety. He lost both legs in the crash. Two passengers escaped with minor injuries.

In October,Michael CornejoandJoel Willis, both 20, and a third man who did not want to be identified helped a Vietnamese couple whose second-floor Gaithersburg apartment kitchen had caught on fire. The young men persuaded the couple to flee the building and made sure all the other tenants were out of the building before they tried to fight the blaze with a fire extinguisher, said Pete Piringer, a county fire and rescue spokesman. Cornejo and Willis have since applied for jobs with the fire department.

In December, a woman crashed her car into a Rockville building, striking a gas meter and causing a gas leak. Building residentBiswajit Das, 39, helped the woman, who apparently had suffered a seizure, escape the vehicle. The building, in Rockville, soon exploded as a result of the leak. The force of the explosion knocked Das's pregnant wife,Dolanchanpa Ghosh-Das, 37, and their 2-year-old son -- who were standing nearby -- about 25 feet away.

Ghosh-Das, whose leg was severely injured in the blast, called 911. Their son was not seriously hurt. Ghosh-Das gave birth to a boy two weeks ago.

"I think [rescues] happen more often than one would think," Piringer said. "Just the fact that someone calls 911 deserves recognition. But when someone puts themselves in danger to help someone who they don't even know, that's something a little special."

Washingtonian Magazine recently named Jewish Foundation for Group Homes chief executiveVivian G. Bassthe 2006 Washingtonian of the Year for three decades of service in helping people with disabilities.