Louis H. Jameson, 50, post office maintenance engineer, saved Barbara A. Binford, 13, from suffocation, North Miami, Florida, December 31, 1964. At night a Christmas tree caught fire in the living room of a one-story dwelling then occupied only by Barbara and her 12-year-old sister, who were asleep in the rear bedroom. The flames spread to the carpet and to plastic toys, creating dense acrid smoke which awakened the sister. Unable to rouse Barbara, the girl ran from the dwelling and summoned Jameson, a neighbor. Obtaining a garden hose, Jameson, who was clad only in pajama trousers, entered the living room and played water on the flames which abated. After spraying his feet, which were blistered by the heat, he groped his way in the dense smoke which allowed negligible visibility and reached a hall leading to the bedroom. He entered the front bedroom but found no one there. Forced to inhale, he began to choke. Jameson returned to the living room and fell over a chair. He got to his feet and went out side, coughing and gagging. The sister told him that Barbara was in the back room. Jameson re-entered the dwelling but bumped into a wall and had to inhale more smoke. Coughing, he dropped to his knees and crawled into the rear bedroom. He found Barbara, who was unconscious. Jameson got to his feet and carried Barbara from the dwelling. He then suffered a severe fit of coughing. Thinking that another sister also was in the dwelling, Jameson returned to the rear bedroom but found no one. He emerged from the dwelling, coughing violently, as firemen arrived. They extinguished the flames. Barbara was revived.
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