Richard Lemieux rescued a boy from burning, Montreal, Quebec, April 30, 2005. Late at night, a 16-year-old boy and his friend stood at an open window of the friend’s fourth-floor apartment and screamed for help, as fire had erupted in the apartment and trapped them. Lemieux, 46, off-duty firefighter who lived nearby, was awakened by the screams and went to investigate. Seeing the flames, he responded to the apartment building and ran up the stairs to the fourth floor, where smoke partially filled the hall. He opened the door to the burning apartment but was repulsed by fire conditions. Entering a neighboring apartment, Lemieux went to a window that was about four feet from the one in which he had seen the boy. Facing inside, he sat on the windowsill, his feet off the floor, and told the boy and his friend to step from their window to his. The boy, who outweighed Lemieux by about 70 pounds, left his window and, facing the building, stepped toward Lemieux. Releasing his handhold of the building and leaning through the window, Lemieux grasped the boy by his night clothes and pulled him head first into the room with him. Firefighters who responded shortly rescued the friend. Both the boy and his friend sustained minor burns and were treated at the hospital.
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