Glenn E. Dry attempted to rescue Robert C. Palmer from burning, Odessa, Washington, August 27, 1961. At a carnival popcorn stand a tank of butane burst a seam and sent a steady spray of fuel over the surrounding area. The fuel saturated the woman operating the stand, as well as Robert, 2, his mother, and his two brothers, who were standing in front of it, and Dry, 26, carnival concession operator, who was at his booth 15 feet away. The spray of fuel burst into solid flames about three feet above the ground, igniting surrounding booths and the clothing of the six persons. Dry, on fire from head to foot, ran out of the flames. Hearing screams from near the popcorn stand, he turned and ran back into the burning spray of butane to within six feet of the tank. He picked up Robert, whose clothing was completely on fire, and carried him out of the flames. All of Dry’s hair and nearly all of his clothing were burned off, and he sustained bums over 70 percent of his body. Robert, his mother, one of his brothers, and the woman in the popcorn stand were fatally burned. Dry was hospitalized ten weeks, and his burns caused a permanent stiffening of his hands.
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