Andrew Barnes saved Brandy K. Hitchcock from burning, Ladysmith, British Columbia, May 22, 1993. Brandy, 5, was one of several passengers aboard her father’s cabin cruiser in Ladysmith Harbor when an explosion occurred below deck. The boat began to burn. Barnes, 45, real estate appraiser, was one of two boaters who immediately responded to the scene and recovered Brandy’s father and the other passengers. Alerted that Brandy remained on board the burning boat, Barnes returned to it. After placing his boat alongside the burning one and turning its controls over to his father, Barnes climbed onto the burning boat and, stepping among flames emanating from the ruptured deck, went into the wheelhouse. He grasped Brandy, who was on the stairs leading to the cabin, then removed her from the wheelhouse. Wanting to leave the burning boat as quickly as possible, Barnes jumped into the water with Brandy and swam to a point where they were recovered by Barnes’s father. Brandy, uninjured, and the other victims were taken to shore. The burning boat was destroyed by flames.
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