Louis J. Buddy saved Helen K. Lesko from suffocation, Williamstown, New Jersey, April 2, 1999. Ms. Lesko, 80, was in a bedroom of her mobile home after fire broke out in the crawl space beneath the structure and filled it with dense smoke. Preparing to leave his nearby home for work, Buddy, 30, mail carrier, discovered the fire. He ran to the scene, where thick, black smoke was issuing from underneath Ms. Lesko’s mobile home and from around its doors and windows. Buddy kicked in the front door, awakening Ms. Lesko, then entered the mobile home repeatedly in attempts to penetrate the smoke. He shouted to Ms. Lesko, and when she answered him from the rear of the home, Buddy went to the back door and entered. He proceeded across the kitchen and had started through the hall when he stumbled over Ms. Lesko, who lay semiconscious on the floor. Buddy picked her up and carried her through the back door to safety. Both Ms. Lesko and Buddy required treatment for smoke inhalation, and they recovered.
73586 – 8380
73586-8380