Marvin A. Pinckney

Marvin A. Pinckney saved Mary H. Griffin and Angela R. Byrd from burning, Enterprise, Alabama, September 4, 2022. Griffin, 82, and her caretaker, Byrd, 56, were in a den on the first floor of a two-story house when flames broke out in the garage. Pinckney, 51, retired army aviation operations specialist, was outside his home nearby and saw smoke coming from Griffin’s property. Knowing Griffin had limited mobility, Pinckney called 911 and responded to the rear of the structure. Seeing flames in the garage, he entered through a rear door to an enclosed porch adjacent to the garage and found them in the den. He alerted them that the house was on fire, and about then the home lost power. Pinckney started toward the rear door, but flames blocked that exit and had spread to engulf the rear wall. Thick smoke also blocked the front entrance. Pinckney assisted Byrd in moving Griffin from an electronic lift chair into her wheelchair, and guided Griffin and Byrd toward a front bedroom to escape through a window. Following Pinckney, Byrd became disoriented in the smoke while pushing the wheelchair and Pinckney called out to guide her. Pinckney, moving ahead of the women to clear a path to safety, lifted a bed to allow space for the wheelchair, and Byrd pushed the chair to a point near the window. Pinckney opened the window and pushed out the screen, then guided Byrd through the window opening to others outside, who pulled her the rest of the way out to safety. Pinckney then similarly lifted Griffin from the chair and pushed her upper body through the opening. Pinckney then exited through the window. Both Griffin and Byrd were taken by ambulance to the hospital. Byrd suffered smoke inhalation, and she was treated and released. Griffin remained at the hospital at least overnight. The house sustained extensive flame and smoke damage and was later torn down. Pinckney suffered minor smoke inhalation and was treated and released from the hospital. He recovered.