Gregor Bader helped to save Emma S. Mowbray from burning, Pontiac, Michigan, April 5, 1951. Mrs. Mowbray, 66, was in the dining room on the first floor of her home when a violent gas explosion occurred in the basement. The walls were blown outward, and most of the house was demolished. Mrs. Mowbray was wedged in the debris beneath a flattened table between the dislodged dining room ceiling and floor. She sustained severe injuries and was buried in debris three feet deep. Gas continued to discharge into a furnace in the basement, and flames broke out at a second floor section and in the debris. Guided by her cries, the husband of Mrs. Mowbray ran onto the debris. Bader, 50, landscape gardener, and another man arrived at the house and walked 15 feet on the ruins to opposite the dining room. Standing within 10 feet of the upright section of the second floor, they cleared away a portion of debris and found an opening a foot square which led downward. Lifting a joist supporting a large section of the dining room ceiling, the other man enlarged the opening. Burning timbers fell near them, and the debris was set afire within 10 feet of them. Bader crawled into the opening as the other man with great effort raised the section of ceiling. Bader reached Mrs. Mowbray after crawling five feet and with difficulty freed her from the table. Crawling backward, he drew her slowly to the surface; and she was removed from the ruins. Mrs. Mowbray was hospitalized 23 days. Bader was tired and sustained hand and face cuts which healed in three days. 42269-3752
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42269-3752