William R. Fisher helped to save Christiane S. Sikora and Steven Lloyd from burning, Boulder, Montana, August 7, 2000. Ms. Sikora, 37, and a friend, Lloyd, 41, were creating firebreaks at Ms. Sikora’s residence, which, in a sparsely populated, mountainous area, was in the path of an advancing wildfire. Unbeknownst to them, a major run of the days-old fire had just started, and flames were quickly approaching the property. On learning that the residence was directly in the path of the fire, Fisher, 54, a fire investigator then serving as the operations section chief of an out-of-state firefighting team dispatched to combat the fire, responded to the scene with a sheriff’s deputy who was familiar with the area. Although advised by safety officers not to proceed, the men drove past advancing flames to Ms. Sikora’s house, which was reached by a long, steep, and winding driveway, and told her and Lloyd to leave the premises immediately. Fisher and the deputy then returned down the driveway to where they waited at the road for Ms. Sikora and Lloyd. After several minutes, Fisher and the deputy returned toward the house, en route meeting Ms. Sikora and Lloyd in separate vehicles. With no room to turn on the narrow driveway, Fisher, who was driving, backed to the road. The wildfire was burning on both sides of the road as the three vehicles were driven to safety. It continued its advance, overtaking Ms. Sikora’s property, and was contained four days later.
74790 – 8526
74790-8526