Roger Berthiaume, 38, repair crew foreman, saved Roger Vincent, 27, bricklayer, from burning, St. Joseph de Sorel, Quebec, November 5, 1956. While Vincent was helping to dismantle the firebrick roof of an iron furnace smelting chamber, a large section of the roof in front of the metal grating on which he was standing suddenly collapsed and fell seven feet into molten dross having a temperature of approximately 1,900 degrees. The crowbar he was using became caught in the collapsing bricks, and Vincent was jerked from the grating just above the chamber. His left foot caught on the joint of a pipe at the edge of the grating, temporarily preventing him from plunging into the chamber as he hung head downward. From nine feet away Berthiaume, who was powerfully built, lunged to a prone position on the smooth grating. Without stopping he grasped Vincent by the ankle and then got to his knees at the edge of the platform. Extending his upper body over the opening in the chamber roof, Berthiamne grasped Vincent’s clothing with his free hand and swung him upward onto the grating. Vincent’s face was blistered and his hair was singed. 43990-4124
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