Kevin W. Linderman saved Travis P. Johnson and attempted to save Tracy J. Fields from burning, Paradise, Montana, January 18, 1998. Brothers Travis, 3, and Tracy, 10 months, were inside their family’s one-story home after fire broke out in the living room. Their mother screamed for help, alerting Linderman, 42, who was visiting in the neighborhood. As smoke and flames precluded entry through the front door, Linderman responded to the back door, which opened into the bedroom. With difficulty, he opened the door sufficiently to enter the burning house, then crawled about 16 feet across the smoke-filled room before finding the bunk bed on which Travis lay. Linderman took Travis from the bed and crawled back to the door, holding him. Outside, Linderman learned that Tracy remained in the house. He re-entered the burning structure in search of Tracy, but deteriorating conditions forced him back out. Tracy’s body was later recovered by firefighters. Travis and Linderman sustained smoke inhalation, Travis requiring hospitalization. They recovered.
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