David J. Klavoon died helping attempt to save Shirley R. Mann from suffocation, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, May 28, 2001. Ms. Mann, 72, was confined to a bed in a bedroom of her one-story house when fire broke out in the sunroom at the back of the house. A neighbor, Klavoon, 67, retired oil refinery operator, was alerted to the fire and responded to the scene with another male neighbor. They entered the house through the front door and, with Ms. Mann’s nurse, proceeded through a hall to Ms. Mann’s bedroom. With fire conditions worsening, Ms. Mann was removed from her bed and dragged into the hall. A flashover occurred, causing conditions to be intolerable and sending the nurse and the other neighbor to safety through a bedroom window. Firefighters arrived shortly and removed Ms. Mann from the hall. Klavoon was found in an adjoining bedroom. Both died of smoke inhalation.
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