On the evening of April 13, 1996, Jacques Champagne rescued a 10-year-old girl from a fire which ravaged their home during a power blackout in Aylmer, Quebec. Mr. Champagne had lit a candle inside a glass container to provide some light in the living room. When he heard the glass break, he ran back and found that the couch had caught fire. Trying at first in vain to put the fire out with his hands, he threw the cushions outside, hoping to control the danger that way. In spite of his efforts, the flames began to leap up from the sofa and onto the walls. Mr. Champagne immediately ran upstairs to wake the child. As the fire spread, he descended the smoke-filled staircase with the girl in his arms, dashing through the flames to the door. They both rolled in the snow to put out the flames which had spread to their clothes.