Kate Dekker, 22, maid, saved William W., Jr., 2, and Ethel M. Coman, 7, from burning, Creston, Washington, June 9, 1917. William and Ethel were in a bedroom on the second floor of their home when the house took fire. Their mother and Miss Dekker started up the stairway to rescue them, encountered a wave of heat, turned back, stumbled, and fell to the bottom of the stairway. With a dishcloth over her face, Miss Dekker again ascended the stairway and passed through dense smoke into the bedroom where the children were. She carried them to the top of the stairway, found the stairway afire, and returned to the bedroom. She dropped each of the children from a window in the bedroom 15 feet to the ground and then fell from the window, burning curtains falling with her. William was slightly burned, and his leg was broken. Ethel was severely burned. Miss Dekker was seriously burned, her eyes were affected, and her back was injured. She was disabled five weeks. 18376-1523
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