Louis Garven Nice, Jr., rescued Darrel L. and William L. Rouse from burning, Wheeling, West Virginia, August 25, 1990. Darrel, 2, and his brother William, 3, were in an attic bedroom of a three-story apartment house after fire erupted in that room. A resident of the adjacent apartment, Nice, 22, was alerted to the fire and left the building. Re-entering it upon learning that the boys were still inside, Nice climbed to the third floor, finding thick smoke, which reduced visibility, and intense heat and growing flames. After obtaining a wet cloth, which he held to his face, Nice crawled into the burning bedroom and found the boys. He grasped them and crawled out of the room, pulling them, then carried them downstairs and outside to safety. Both boys were hospitalized for burns, Darrel succumbing a month later. Nice sustained minor burns to his feet and was given oxygen at the scene; he fully recovered.
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