Bravery citation for fire rescue

Press, 17 December 1988, Page 3

Bravery citation for fire rescue

By

JENNY LONG

A man who rescued a pensioner from a burning flat on Christmas Eve last year has been awarded a silver medal by the Royal Humane Society. Mr Alan Graham, of Brooklyn, Wellington, was woken by cries coming from the flat in the house next door. He ran into the flat, found a woman, who was already badly burned, and carried her outside. Mr Graham who received burns to his hands during the rescue, went back inside to try to rescue a man who was still in the flat. The man died in the fire, and the

woman died some weeks later from her burns. The Humane Society citation said that Mr Graham had shown a complete disregard for his own safety in entering a burning and smoke-filled house in a determined rescue bid. The society’s bronze medal has been awarded to Mr Michael Brickell, of Wanganui, for his rescue of a man, aged 95, from a burning house, in June, 1986. Both Mr Brickell and the elderly man had to be admitted to hospital for treatment for considerable smoke inhalation, the citation said.