Verol E. Rogers rescued Claudine Lewis from burning, Mayfield, Kentucky, June 7, 1961. Mrs. Lewis, 63, and her husband were asleep in their bedroom in a one-story brick dwelling when fire broke out in the adjoining living room. Rogers, 41, grocery store owner, who lived next door, was awakened and ran to the dwelling, clad only in pajamas and slippers. Flames then issued six feet from broken windows of the front rooms. Rogers ran to the rear of the dwelling and entered the kitchen, which led to the bedroom. He dropped to the floor because of the extremely dense smoke and crawled 15 feet to the bedroom door as flames spread through the dining room next to the kitchen and into two other rooms. Heat was intense. Rogers crawled four feet into the bedroom, found Mrs. Lewis lying unconscious on the floor, and took hold of her. As Rogers crawled back into the kitchen, dragging Mrs. Lewis after him, her leg became caught crosswise in the doorway. After moving back into the bedroom and freeing Mrs. Lewis, Rogers then dragged her toward the back door. Unable to see anything and confused by the smoke and heat, he lost his direction and bumped into a stove. Rogers probed behind him, located the door and, gasping for breath, dragged Mrs. Lewis from the dwelling. In an attempt to reach the husband, Rogers returned to the kitchen door but was driven back by the intense heat as firemen arrived. The three front rooms then were completely in flames. After using fire hoses for 10 minutes, firemen were able to enter the dwelling. They found the husband in the bedroom. Mrs. Lewis and her husband had suffered extensive burns from the heat, and both succumbed within three days.
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