Woodrow L. Thompson, 42, laborer, saved Roy G. Aldridge, 3 months, from burning, Jacksonville, Florida, July 8, 1956. When fire broke out in the kitchen of a four-room frame dwelling, Roy’s uncle safely removed his 18-month-old niece but flames which meanwhile had spread prevented him from returning to the bedroom in which he had left Roy. The screams of Roy’s mother, who was visiting a neighbor when the fire started, attracted Thompson. Clad only in trousers and a pajama coat, he ran to the burning dwelling and learned that Roy still was in the bedroom. As flames spread rapidly to the other rooms, Thompson used a garbage can to break the glass from the lower sash of a window in the bedroom and then climbed inside. Holding his breath and shielding his face with one arm, he made his way through the dense smoke to a double bed and thence to a crib but could not find Roy. Heat was intense, and he returned to the window for air. A neighbor told him to look on the floor, and Thompson moved back into the room, where he again held his breath and searched until he located the baby. He then carried Roy to the window and handed him to his mother. Fifteen seconds after Thompson had emerged from the window, the roof over the other rooms collapsed, driving flames into the bedroom. Firemen arrived as the roof above the bedroom also collapsed. The dwelling burned to the ground. Roy’s face was blackened by smoke, and be suffered only a slight burn on one finger. Thompson was nauseated, his eyes were inflamed, and the soles of his feet were scorched. He recovered. 43956-4114
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