Mack Arthur Evans rescued Melvin Thompson and Jeremy L. Evans from burning, Columbus, Mississippi, December 24, 1989. Thompson 33, and Jeremy, 2, were asleep in a bedroom of their one-story house when fire erupted in another room. Jeremy’s uncle, Evans, 22, who lived nearby, was alerted to the fire and went to the scene. Despite rapidly spreading flames, intense heat, and dense smoke, Evans, who suffered chronic health problems, entered the house through its front door, crawled into Thompson’s bedroom, and located Thompson by patting the bed. He seized Thompson, who was unconscious, and dragged him from the house. Evans then re-entered the house, located Jeremy in a similar fashion, and removed him. Evans was preparing to enter the house a third time, as his brother was in another bedroom, but he was restrained by a police officer when his hair began to smolder. Thompson and Jeremy required hospitalization for third-degree burns, and Evans was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation, from which he recovered.
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