Star of Courage
Awarded on: 1988-04-05
Invested on: 1988-08-19
Late in the afternoon of December 16, 1986, Claude Cléroux and his crew of technicians were in the process of insulating a furnace at the Petro-Canada refinery in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, when a sudden explosion blew out the boiler and caused one of its walls to collapse onto pipes carrying flammable, toxic gases. A man working under the furnace support structure was trapped, his forearm pinned between two pieces of metal. He called for help to Mr. Cléroux who, uninjured by the blast, had started to look for his men. Approaching the victim, Mr. Cléroux realized that he would need something to pry the rubble away from the man's arm. After three trips outside he found a metal bar and began to work at freeing the trapped man. Meanwhile, the fire, fed by gases from the blown-out pipes, was spreading dangerously close to the victim and the structure supporting the furnace was threatening to collapse at any time. As Mr. Cléroux was making his third attempt to extricate the victim, two men arrived to help him. In a combined effort they managed to free the victim and take him outside to safety. Without Mr. Cléroux's quick action and perseverance the victim would surely have died.