Bravery medal awarded

Press, 15 December 1979, Page 6

Bravery medal awarded

A young Christchurch> policeman w’ho pulled two men from a burning building in April will receive the bronze medal of the Royal, Humane Society. Constable Paul Whitehead,' now a member of the Christ-, church team policing unit, i wif) be presented with the' medal at the Waimairi! County Council’s monthly j meeting on Monday evening. The citation accompanying; the medal says: "While on; patrol in central Christchurch j on the evening of April 2.i Constable Whitehead saw a

11 fire in a first-storey room of an old residence in Hereford I Street. ; "He ran to the house and after breaking down the front , door climbed the stairs to the j landing. When he opened the door of a bedroom he initially was repelled bv thick smoke' 'and heat. “Remaining near the floor! jhe crawled to one of the; beds, which was now on fire, dragged its occupant free, and pulled him to the door. Although now suffering considerably from the smoke inhaled. Constable Whitehead;

'; returned and found andther 11 man lying on the floor overcome by fumes. He dragged him to the doorway where I other officers assisted him. “Fire was mainly confined ' to the bedding but had gen- ' erated a lot of heat and a : great amount of smoke. In (the very severe conditions ; Constable Whitehead dis- ! played considerable valour and a great deal of determination. Both occupants were found to be dead when taken to hospital, the cause of death being carbon monoxide poisoning associated i with severe burns.”