James H. Yocum saved Lola L. Stump from burning, Columbus, Ohio, July 23, 1964. At night fire broke out in the living room of a second-floor apartment; and the smoke wakened Mrs. Stump, 42, who was in the adjoining bedroom, and her husband, who was sleeping on the living room sofa. In the dark Mrs. Stump broke the bedroom window, suffering severe arm cuts which bled profusely, and fell to the floor near the doorway to the living room. Yocum, 17, bottling company laborer, returning from work, saw the flames and heard Mrs. Stump and her husband shouting. Kicking open the door of the first-floor apartment, Yocum called to the occupants that the building was afire and then made his way to a hall from which a stairway led to the second floor. Yocum ascended the stairs and in the dense smoke felt along the wall until he reached the bedroom door. Guided by Mrs. Stump’s screams he made his way to her. Heat was intense, and he could see the glow of the flames in the living room. When Yocum took hold of her, Mrs. Stump placed her injured arm around his neck. Able to lift her only slightly since she weighed as much as he, Yocum with difficulty moved her to the stairway and descended to the first floor. Noting her injured arm, Yocum used a shoelace for a tourniquet and then aided her out a side door. Unaware that the husband, who had sustained burns, had climbed out a window onto the porch roof, Yocum returned to the second floor and made his way through a hall to the living room door, which was very hot. Choking from the dense smoke, Yocum began to feel dizzy. He descended to the ground floor and emerged from the building gasping for breath. Firemen removed the husband from the porch roof and extinguished the flames. Mrs. Stump and her husband recovered.
47502 – 4896
47502-4896