Joseph Sienko

Joseph Sienko, 43, heat treating helper, saved Dominic J. La Scola, 45, heat treating helper, from drowning, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1956. While working near a large quenching tank in a heat treating plant, La Scola fell into the open tank, the top of which was level with the floor, and was submerged in water about 12 feet deep. The temperature of the water, from which steel forgings heated to 1,600 degrees had been taken 20 minutes earlier, was then approximately 180 degrees. Sienko, who was working nearby, saw the accident and jumped into the tank. As Sienko groped for him four feet beneath the surface, La Scola, who could not swim, suddenly grasped Sienko’s shoulders. Although his arms had been weakened by the heat of the water, Sienko tried to push La Scola toward the surface. La Scola then put one knee on Sienko’s shoulder, forcing him downward. As La Scola rose to the surface three feet from the edge of the tank, his foot kicked Sienko’s face. Sienko, by then greatly weakened, struggled to the surface beside La Scola, and both men were assisted from the tank by another workman. La Scola suffered burns over much of his body but recovered in 10 weeks. Sienko also sustained extensive bums, recovering in four weeks.