Nicola Campanale sustained fatal injuries in an attempt to save an indefinite child or children from burning, Worcester, Massachusetts, July 4, 1931. At night Campanale,46, laborer, ran to a house, the rear of which was on fire and the occupants of which he knew well. He arrived at the front as firemen were arriving. He told one of the firemen that there were children on the second floor. He entered and ascended a stairway to the second floor, and two firemen followed him. They entered the living room and in thick smoke and intense heat groped their way in darkness to an adjoining bedroom and searched for the children. They found none, and just after they returned to the living room a great burst of heat and flame occurred, knocking them down. One fireman got to the stairway and tumbled to the first floor. He was seriously burned but recovered. Campanale and one fireman were rescued by other firemen. Campanale was unconscious and a few hours later died from burns. Unknown to Campanale the entire family were out of the house at the time he entered.
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