Leonard M. Stuttman saved Arnold W. Silver and attempted to save John H. Mallette from suffocation, Charlotte, Michigan, April 18, 1963. When their train was derailed, Silver, 68, locomotive engineer, and Mallette, locomotive fireman, were severely injured and pinned inside the cab of the locomotive, which lay on its side. The fuel tanks were ruptured, and the escaping diesel oil caught fire. Flames burned on the end of the locomotive and on the ground between it and the train’s second locomotive. Stuttman, 37, educational film producer, a passenger on the train, escaped injury and ran to near the engine. Hearing moans, he climbed onto the locomotive and crawled 25 feet on the oil-covered surface to the window of the cab, which was filled with dense smoke. Stuttman broke out the glass and lowered his head and shoulders through the opening. At Stuttman’s direction Silver with effort freed himself and stood erect beneath the window. He grasped the extended arm of Stuttman, who with difficulty lifted him through the opening, which was nine and a half feet above the bottom side of the cab. Coughing from smoke he had swallowed, Stuttman lowered Silver to the baggageman, who meanwhile had run to alongside the engine. Silver then told them that Mallette still was inside the cab. Flames five feet high were burning steadily on the end of the locomotive 10 feet from the cab, while those on the ground were closer. Stuttman crawled back to the window and, holding to the edge, lowered himself into the cab. Experiencing difficulty in breathing because of the dense smoke, he climbed out as the baggagemen mounted the cab after obtaining a length of wire. Stuttman fastened the wire to his belt and, with the baggageman holding the other end lowered himself completely into the cab. Standing in diesel oil to his ankles, he probed but could not find Mallette. Stuttman began to choke on the smoke and left the cab after being inside about a minute. Firemen arrived. One fireman, wearing a mask; was lowered into the cab with a rope tied around his waist but could not locate Mallette. After water had been sprayed into the cab, two firemen entered wearing masks and found Mallette. He and Silver were removed to a hospital. Silver recovered from his injuries in two months. Mallette died of his injuries ten days after the accident.
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