Julie C. Dokken, 17, schoolgirl, rescued Kenneth J. Sawatzky, 3, from burning, Assiniboia, Manitoba, August 11, 1964. Kenneth was asleep in a bedroom of a one-story frame dwelling when his mother tried to rekindle a fire in the kitchen stove by using gasoline. The fuel ignited and burned the mother, who dropped the gasoline container onto the floor, setting fire to the linoleum. The mother and Miss Dokken, who was visiting, ran outside by way of the kitchen door, which was directly opposite the doorway of Kenneth’s bedroom. When the mother screamed that Kenneth still was inside, Miss Dokken reentered the kitchen, where flames a foot high on the floor blocked the path to the bedroom. Heat was intense, and the smoke was very dense. Miss Dokken ran six feet through flames in going to the bedroom doorway. She ran to the bed, picked up Kenneth, and then ran back to the kitchen, where the flames had increased to 18 inches in height. Miss Dokken ran to the outside door, passing through eight feet of flames, and emerged from the dwelling with Kenneth. Firemen extinguished the flames. Kenneth and Miss Dokken were hospitalized for extensive burns. They recovered.
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