Carl Dean Brewer saved Jacqueline M. Covault and Kelsey R. Gross from burning, Hillsboro, Indiana, December 7, 1997. Jacqueline, 6, and her cousin, Kelsey, 7, were asleep in a first-floor bedroom of Jacqueline’s family’s two-story house when fire erupted in the enclosed front porch and spread, sending dense smoke throughout the floor. Discovering the fire, Jacqueline’s mother attempted without success to locate the girls. Brewer, 57, mechanic, was driving past the house when he saw that it was on fire. He stopped and learned from Jacqueline’s mother that the girls remained inside. Brewer entered the house through its back door. Despite the dense smoke, which obscured visibility, he crawled across the kitchen, then entered an adjoining bedroom, where he found one of the girls. Retracing his steps, he found the second girl at the doorway to the kitchen. Brewer then stood and, carrying both girls, continued to the back door and outside to safety. Both girls were hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation, and they recovered.
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