William J. Vesseliza, 27, expediting clerk, saved Deborah A. and attempted to save Doris M. Krane, 7-year-old twins, from suffocation, West Hempstead, New York, January 3, 1954. At night while Deborah and Doris were asleep in a bedroom at the front of a one-story frame house, a 13-year-old boy reached inside an open window of a rear room, set afire a curtain, and then fled. Intense flames burned through the walls and ceiling of the room, and dense, noxious smoke filled the entire house. Groping into the bedroom, an older sister awakened Deborah and Doris but was unable to lift them through a window and climbed outside calling for help. Deborah and Doris left the window and became separated in the smoke. Attracted by flames rising 40 feet above the roof, Vesseliza alighted from his automobile and ran to the window, being informed of the plight of Deborah and Doris by the sister. Holding his breath, he climbed into the bedroom. From outside another man handed two flashlights to Vesseliza, who found that they afforded little visibility in the smoke and discarded the flashlights. Closing his eyes, which had begun to water and sting from the acrid smoke, Vesseliza groped six feet in the direction of the cries of the girls and got hold of Deborah, whom he carried to the window and handed to the other man. Vesseliza increasingly was affected by the smoke as he groped 10 feet toward the far side of the room in search of Doris. Colliding with a wooden chest, he fell to the floor, choking violently. With effort he crawled to the window and staggered to his feet in urgent need of air. After taking deep breaths at the window opening, Vesseliza retraced his course toward the sound of Doris’s cries. Again he struck the chest and was forced to inhale smoke. Almost overcome, he stumbled to the window and climbed outside, having been in the bedroom four minutes. From the front door several other men tried to gain entry to a hallway leading to the bedroom but were driven back by smoke and intense beat. Firemen extinguished the flames, which gutted a large part of the house. Doris, who was found in the bathroom adjoining the bedroom, was pronounced dead of suffocation. Deborah recovered from the effects of the smoke in a week. Vesseliza was treated for irritation of the throat and eyes. 43109-3932
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