Clifton Flood, Sr., rescued James McCullough and Harry Williams and attempted to rescue Oliver McNair from burning, Jacksonville, Florida, December 25, 1969. In a one-story frame building, fire broke out in a three-room apartment where McCullough, 61, handyman; Williams, 55, laborer, and McNair, 59, laborer, each was asleep in his own room. Learning that the three men were inside the building, Flood, 35, mechanical repairman, opened the only door to the apartment and saw flames in the first room. Choking from dense smoke, he crawled through that room and into the second, where the flames were more extensive. He located McCullough, carried him outside, and returned to the apartment, where conditions worsened. Finding Williams in the first room, Flood dragged him outside. Despite hard coughing, he entered the apartment a third time. Flood crawled through two rooms and reached the doorway to McNair’s room. McNair was surrounded by massive flames which prevented Flood from entering the room. Greatly affected by the heat and smoke, Flood fled from the apartment; and soon afterward the roof collapsed. McNair’s body was removed after firemen had extinguished the flames. McCullough, Williams, and Flood recovered from burns and smoke inhalation.
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