Rick D. Moree helped to save Barbara M., Robert L., and Natasha S. Church from burning, El Cajon, California, May 16, 1990. Siblings Barbara, 4; Robert, 1, and Natasha, 2, were in adjoining bedrooms of their family’s second-floor apartment when fire broke out in the living room. A neighbor, Moree, 23, saw the fire and ran to the scene; with others, he attempted to gain access through the apartment’s front door, but flame conditions precluded their entry. Moree then helped to obtain a ladder from nearby and used it to gain access to the bedrooms through their windows, one of which he had to break out. Moree located the children, in the process having to enter fully the smoke-filled apartment, and passed them out the windows to others on the ladder before exiting himself. The children required hospital treatment for minor injuries, and they recovered. Moree was treated at the hospital for acute smoke inhalation and a laceration to his left thumb, which required sutures. He fully recovered.
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