Roger Costa attempted to rescue Maria C.T. Frivaldo from burning, Tustin, California, November 20, 2012. Frivaldo, 56, was trapped on the balcony of her second-floor apartment after fire broke out in the unit’s kitchen and spread, blocking access to its door. She screamed for help as flames issued into the balcony. A resident of the same complex, Costa, 39, warehouse employee, responded to the scene after seeing the fire from his apartment. He climbed to the level of the balcony and, holding to its wooden railing with one hand, reached out for Frivaldo, but she slipped from his grasp. Costa lost his hold of the railing and fell backward to the ground. Frivaldo died in the fire, and Costa required six days’ hospitalization for treatment, including surgery, of burns up to third-degree to a hand and an arm. He retained scarring.
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