Ignacio Donan helped to rescue Mary J. Bruner-Brusseau from burning, Tulare, California, December 28, 1997. Ms. Bruner-Brusseau, 83, lay unconscious on the floor of the dining room in her house after fire broke out in a first-floor bedroom at night and filled the house with dense smoke. Donan, 25, baker, who lived across the street, saw flames issuing from the front of the house and ran to the scene. He went to the back of the house, as did arriving police officers, and learned that Ms. Bruner-Brusseau was still inside. The officers made repeated entries through the back door to search for Ms. Bruner-Brusseau but were driven back by the smoke. Donan and one of the officers then entered the house, crawled across an enclosed porch, and entered the dining room, where they found Ms. Bruner-Brusseau. Donan and the officer grasped her and removed her from the house. Ms. Bruner-Brusseau was hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation and serious burns and died of her injuries 13 days later. Donan experienced tightness in his chest and a sore throat, from which he recovered.
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