Lewis S. Jones rescued George Hnida from burning, Wheatland, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1962. When fire broke out in the living room of the ground-floor apartment where he was alone, Hnida, 43, who was disabled by multiple sclerosis, managed to get out of his chair but fell to the floor and was unable to rise. Jones, 75, retired pipe machine operator, who lived next door, smelled smoke and then saw flames in the Hnida dwelling. After telling his wife to notify firemen, Jones ran to the porch of the apartment and with difficulty forced open the door. The dense smoke, which filled the room, burst into flames, some issuing through the doorway at the top. Jones crouched and saw Hnida lying on the floor. Dropping to his knees, Jones crawled five feet into the room, two feet beneath flames on the ceiling. Flames also issued from the walls. Heat was intense. Grasping Hnida, Jones with effort dragged him to the door as he moved backward on his knees, his head within a foot of the flames. By the time Jones had drawn Hnida onto the porch, the fire had spread throughout the living room and had set ablaze the porch roof. Jones dragged Hnida onto the sidewalk, passing a window which shortly afterward shattered, emitting a mass of flames. Another man arrived and carried Hnida farther from the dwelling. Firemen extinguished the flames, which bad completely destroyed the living room. Hnida was hospitalized for extensive burns but contracted pneumonia and died seven weeks later.
46051 – 4615
46051-4615