Leslie Orr White saved Jack Johnson from burning, Greenwood, Mississippi, March 17, 1967. In a one-story frame dwelling, Johnson, 55, houseman was working in the bathroom when the landlady turned on an electric scrubber in the living room, where the carpet had just been cleaned with gasoline. A flash of flames which filled the living room, kitchen, and bathroom badly burned Johnson, who opened a small window but could not climb out. Unable to find his way out because of the dense smoke, he called for help. A woman working in one of the bedrooms escaped through a window there and told White, 55, foreman, and others who had gathered that Johnson was trapped in the bathroom. White ran to the front door and kicked it open but was forced back by the smoke and heat. He wrapped a wet towel about his head and entered the living room. In intense heat and very dense smoke White felt his way along the wall of the living room and continued into the bathroom, where he located Johnson. Taking hold of him, White pulled Johnson into the living room and again followed along the wall. Through the smoke he could see the glow of flames nearby. After taking Johnson a total of 19 feet to the front door, he emerged from the dwelling with him. Firemen extinguished the flames. The landlady had burned to death in the living room. Johnson was hospitalized for his burns.
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