York, Ontario, Regional Police Chief presented the Carnegie Medal to police officer Justin Baird at a private presentation held Oct. 16 at their police station in Aurora, Ontario.
Baird was awarded for helping save a man from burning on Dec. 6, 2023, in St. Catharines, Ontario, alongside Toronto police officer Aidan James Loughlin.
Glen Havers, 63, lay unconscious inside a second-floor doorway at the top of an interior staircase in a burning apartment building. Loughlin, 24, and Baird, 25, were off-duty, walking about 400 feet away when they smelled and saw smoke. They saw windows shatter and flames pour out of the building. Both men ran to the scene and told bystanders to call 911. Loughlin kicked and shattered a locked glass door before he climbed under the push bar, followed by Baird.
The two men crawled up the stairs through heavy smoke and saw an open door at the top of the stairs. Loughlin entered through the doorway and tripped over Havers’ feet. He moved farther inside the room and bent over as the flames poured out of the doorway near the ceiling above him. He grabbed Havers by his boots with both hands and pulled him out to the stair landing, then passed Havers’ legs to Baird. Loughlin could feel his head getting hot and feared his hat had caught on fire, prompting him to discard it. Baird grabbed Havers’ legs as he started to crawl backward down the stairs while Loughlin held the man under his arms and slid down on his buttocks. They navigated around and stumbled over clutter on the stairs while carrying Havers to the first floor.
The three men eventually made it outside to the sidewalk. Havers suffered severe burns to his head and face. He was hospitalized for several weeks but recovered. Loughlin suffered from smoke inhalation and was treated at an emergency room. Baird also recovered from smoke inhalation.
Baird is seen alongside MacSween as he accepts the medal with others.