James A. Pfaff, 32, manager of a life insurance agency, saved Scott W. Biven, 3, from burning, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, August 16, 1959. When fire broke out at night in an adjoining garage and spread to a frame dwelling where Scott was asleep in a first-floor bedroom, his parents, both deaf-mutes, fled from their upstairs bedroom. The father tried to rescue Scott but was badly burned. Pfaff and his wife, who were driving by, saw the flames and stopped at the dwelling. The mother led Pfaff to the window of Scott’s bedroom and pointed to it. Realizing that someone was inside, Pfaff broke the screen on the window, raised the lower sash, and crawled into the room. He landed on a bed, from which he slid to the floor. The wind was knocked out of him, and he inhaled some of the dense smoke which filled the room. Feeling dizzy and unable to see, Pfaff climbed back out through the window and lay on the ground briefly to recover. Ignoring a burn on one hand and a cut on the other, Pfaff re-entered the dwelling. He crawled across the bed and stepped onto the floor. He could see the glow of flames in the corner of the small room. Holding his breath as best he could, he groped about until he touched the crib. He lifted Scott into his arms and moved back to the bed, again feeling dizzy. Pfaff crawled across the bed, handed Scott through the window to his wife, and then climbed outside, coughing violently from the smoke. Firemen arrived and extinguished the flames. Scott was treated for smoke inhalation and recovered. Pfaffs injuries healed within two weeks
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