Frankie Joe Curtis rescued Dale C. Cowdery and Berta S. Lahmon from burning, Columbus, Ohio, October 20, 1990. Cowdery, 62, and Miss Lahmon, 54, and her grandson were in their house when fire broke out in the living room late at night. A neighbor, Curtis, 50, truck driver, was alerted to the fire; he ran to the scene and kicked in the front door. Entering the smoke-filled house through the burning living room, Curtis found Cowdery near the door and dragged him outside. Despite flames spreading to other rooms of the house, Curtis re-entered through the front door and crawled through the living room to a hall that led to the bedrooms. He found Miss Lahmon unconscious on the floor of the hall, then seized and dragged her through the living room and outside, flames shortly blocking the doorway. Cowdery was hospitalized for severe burns and died two days later. Miss Lahmon was hospitalized four days for burns to the left side of her body. Her grandson died in the fire. Curtis sustained minor cuts to his feet and burns to his hands, and he recovered.
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