Elmer B. Edwards, 43, painter, rescued Wade F., 2, Rosemarie E., 6 months, and Mildred I. Cayer, 25, from burning, Providence, Rhode Island February 24, 1955. Wade was in his high chair, and Rosemarie was asleep on a couch in the kitchen of a first-floor apartment when flames broke out at a stove and ignited the wall next to the stove. Mrs. Cayer had gone upstairs on an errand. Seeing smoke, Edwards entered the front door of the building and made his way along a corridor to the kitchen doorway, where he heard Wade’s screams. Pausing only to pull the collar of his jacket over his head, he stepped into the kitchen. A solid mass of flames covered the wall, and flames one to six inches high on the floor in one corner of the room were nearing the highchair. Heat was intense. Groping 10 feet through dense smoke which extended downward from the ceiling to within three feet of the floor, Edwards reached the highchair after stumbling over another chair. He tried to lift Wade but discovered the child was fastened to the chair with a cloth. As Edwards picked up the chair and turned away from the flames, he lost his bearings in the smoke. Stumbling aimlessly, he brushed against Mrs. Cayer, who had entered unaware of the presence of Edwards and had picked up Rosemarie. Edwards got hold of Mrs. Cayer by an arm. Guided by dim light coming from beneath the smoke, he aided Mrs. Cayer, who carried Rosemarie, 12 feet to the corridor and accompanied her from the building. He took Mrs. Cayer and the children to a hospital in his automobile. Firemen extinguished the flames. Rosemarie was treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. Wade, who suffered severe burns, died 19 days later. Edwards, whose face was reddened and whose eyelashes were singed, sustained hand burns which healed in two days. 43350-4026
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