Star of Courage
Awarded on: 1983-03-14
Invested on: 1983-06-24
In the early hours of 30 July 1980, while on patrol duty, Cst. Leonard Blackburn and a fellow policeman of the Montreal Urban Community Police Department were alerted that a fire had broken out on the fifth floor of a large hotel. On arrival the two officers immediately went up the emergency stairs and entered the hallway. Realizing the intensity of the blaze, Cst. Blackburn asked his colleague to return to the patrol car and radio for help. Then, concerned that the fire alarm had failed to awaken hotel guests, he crawled along the floor, checking each room to ensure that no one was left inside. He found one woman wandering through the dense smoke and led her to the emergency exit. Without regard for his own safety he ran down the stairs, entered the fourth floor on his hands and knees and, though he stumbled often in the thick smoke, ensured that the whole floor was evacuated. By then Cst. Blackburn was severely incapacitated by smoke. Just before collapsing he was found by a policeman wearing breathing apparatus, and helped outside the burning building. His courage and devotion to duty saved many lives.