David Peter Bricarello, 21, student, attempted to save Dawn R. and Tammy L. Hodapp, 4 and 6, respectively, from suffocation, Cupertino, California, May 29, 1968. At night Dawn, Tammy, and their brother were asleep in bedrooms at the rear of a one-story frame dwelling when fire broke out in the living room. Their mother ran out through the kitchen door and screamed for help, attracting Bricarello and other neighbors. The flames had reached the kitchen when Bricarello crawled through it and thence through a hall to the bedroom occupied by Dawn and Tammy. Bricarello started back to the kitchen with Dawn, directing Tammy to crawl ahead of him. She did so. They reached the kitchen where flames by then covered one wall and part of the ceiling. A piece of burning debris fell on Bricarello’s bare back. He released Dawn in order to dislodge the article and then, due to the poor visibility, was unable to find her again. More debris fell on Bricarello, who by that time was nearly overcome by the heat and smoke. He crawled to the kitchen door and emerged from the dwelling. Tammy escaped through a window at the rear of the house. Firemen arrived and extinguished the flames. The bodies of Dawn and her brother, both of whom had suffocated, were found near the rear of the dwelling. Bricarello required hospitalization for his burns.
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