Albert Thomson, 53, electronic engineer, saved Leanna J. Boyd, 7, from suffocation, Portland, Oregon, March 24, 1967. At night, while Leanna and her older brother and sister were alone in a two-story frame and masonry dwelling, fire broke out in the kitchen. The two older children, who slept on the ground floor, ran outside, but Leanna’s escape from her upstairs bedroom was blocked by flames in the hall, where they had burned through the first-floor ceiling. Thomson was attracted from his home nearby. The two older children told him that Leanna still was inside the dwelling, and they pointed out her room. Thomson obtained a ladder and climbed to an open window of Leanna’s bedroom. He removed the screen and stepped into the room, which was filled with dense smoke. Flames had reached the adjoining room. Holding his breath and closing his eyes, Thomson moved away from the window and by probing located Leanna, who was lying unconscious on tire floor. Thomson carried her to the window and handed her to another man who had climbed the ladder. They descended to the ground, Thomson coughing violently from smoke he had inhaled. Leanna was revived.
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