Andy John Bucko rescued Vernick M. Pambrun from burning, Mozart, Saskatchewan, April 12, 1991. Vernick, 15, and her sister were overcome by smoke in their family’s mobile home after fire broke out in the living room and spread. Bucko, 43, truck driver, was alerted to the fire and ran to the scene. He repeatedly attempted to enter the mobile home, but the dense smoke thwarted his efforts. Obtaining a rope, which he tied to his waist, Bucko entered the mobile home through its back door after another man had rescued Vernick’s sister by way of that door. Bucko crawled through the dense smoke into the nearby master bedroom, where he found Vernick unconscious on the floor. He grasped her by an arm and dragged her to the door, where others removed her to safety. Immediately after Bucko himself exited, the mobile home was engulfed in flames. Vernick was hospitalized four days for smoke inhalation and burns; she recovered. Bucko also required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation, and he too recovered.
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