William R. Dyke attempted to save Frances Bryant from burning, Goodes, Virginia, April 17, 1913. Frances, 4, was in her family’s house, a light frame structure, which had caught fire. Her mother, with her clothes burning, sought her children in the house, but she could not find them because of smoke. The house was burning rapidly. The mother, fatally burned, ran into the yard, where she met Dyke, 40, school teacher and farmer, and told him that her children were in the house. Smoke was pouring through the doors and windows. After looking in vain for a better means of entrance, Dyke crouched down and ran through a doorway through which smoke and flames were issuing. About 25 feet from the door he found Frances on the floor. He picked her up and retraced his steps to the open air without suffering other than slight burns on his hands. Frances was badly burned, and she died within an hour. The roof of the house fell within a very few minutes after Dyke left it. 10791-1008
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