James Tilley, 69, laborer rescued Walter McClaney, 81, invalid, from burning, Birmingham, Alabama, February 22, 1953. Paralyzed from a stroke, McClaney was unable to leave his bed in a room at the rear of a one-story house when flames broke out at a stove and ignited the floor. Two daughters of McClaney reached the only doorway to the room and tried to smother the fire with blankets but were forced to leave the room when the flames increased in intensity and spread to the walls and ceiling. They ran outdoors calling for help and attracted Tilley, who entered the house. He ran through a hall and an adjoining room and stepped inside McClaney’s room, which was filled with dense smoke. Flames rose from the floor in gusts a foot high. Two walls and part of the ceiling were afire, and heat was intense. Ripping away a tank containing two gallons of kerosene from the stove, Tilley hurled the tank outside through a window. Air entering through the broken window fanned the flames, which spread farther along the floor and ceiling and ignited the top of the doorway. Tilley reached the bed, threw back the blankets, and took hold of McClaney. As he lifted McClaney, Tilley saw that the flames had filled the doorway for three feet downward from the top. Keeping his head over McClaney’s face to try to shield him and holding his breath to avoid inhaling flame, Tilley carried McClaney into the other room. Tilley’s face came in contact with dense flames and his jacket was ignited. With great effort he continued to the hall with McClaney and then fell to the floor and called for help. The women reentered and dragged McClaney from the house. Tilley crawled outside and tore off his jacket and shirt, which were burning. The house was destroyed by the fire. McClaney suffered minor burns. Tilley sustained first- and second-degree burns of the face, neck, and arm. He was hospitalized two weeks, and his burns healed completely in six months. 42839-3901
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