Leonard Brand helped to rescue Leroy Price from exposure following an explosion, Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 9, 1951. While Price, 24, welder, and two other men were painting the inside of a water tank 115 feet high, a violent explosion resulting from the ignition of gasoline-fumes occurred; and the men were burned severely and fell from scaffolding to the sloping bottom of the tank 27 feet above the ground. Fumes filled the tank. Price was badly dazed and became irrational from the intense pain of his burns. The other men escaped through a hatch at the roof of the tank and descended to the ground. Firemen were summoned and raised an extension ladder to the tank catwalk 30 feet below the roof. Separate attempts were made by Price’s foreman and a fireman to enter the tank and aid Price; but he resisted all efforts to approach him, throwing paint brushes at them. Responding to an emergency call, Brand, 27, physician, arrived at the tank and cautiously climbed to the catwalk carrying a syringe filled with morphine. As he prepared to ascend to the hatch on a vertical ladder, Brand found that the ladder had been loosened by the explosion and was secured precariously to the roof. Aided by a rope lowered from the roof by firemen, he resumed climbing and reached the hatch. He heard Price groaning in pain and was warned by the firemen of the possibility of an attack by Price. Brand stepped through the hatch and got footing on an interior ladder, which was very slippery from the paint. Visibility in the tank was poor, and Brand had difficulty breathing because of the fumes. Descending 30 feet to the base of the ladder, he tried to calm Price. Price then was in a state of shock and shouted a warning to Brand to keep away. Groping with his feet, Brand continued 10 feet down the slope to within three feet of him. Speaking sympathetically to Price and gradually obtaining his confidence, Brand administered an injection in his arm. The drug took effect shortly afterward, and Brand aided Price up the slope to the ladder. A fireman descended and tied a rope to Price, who was drawn from the tank and lowered to the ground. Brand climbed to the roof and with difficulty descended to the catwalk, where he became faint. Firemen assisted him to the ground. Price was hospitalized six months. The other two workmen succumbed to their burns. Brand received stimulants and recovered. 42309-3800
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42309-3800