John B. Frederick saved Sally A. Harris from burning, Springfield, Ohio, October 13, 2000. Ms. Harris, 48, remained in the third-floor hall of the three-story building in which she lived after fire broke out in an adjacent building. Flames had spread to the second floor of Ms. Harris’s building and filled the second and third floors with smoke. Driving nearby, Frederick, 49, shop supervisor, saw the fire. He stopped at the scene and learned from a bystander that people might still be inside the building. Frederick entered the building through a side door and, ascending the smoke-filled stairwell, provided assistance to some of the tenants, who were fleeing. At the second floor, Frederick encountered the flames but continued toward the third floor, en route finding a man who told him that Ms. Harris remained there. After directing that man downstairs, Frederick crawled to the third floor and called to Ms. Harris. He then crawled through the smoke-filled hall in the direction of her voice and, finding her, stood and placed her over his shoulder. Carrying Ms. Harris, Frederick ran back to the stairwell, which flames were entering by then. He jumped down part of the burning stairwell, then ran downstairs to the first floor and exited the building with Ms. Harris. Neither was injured.
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