Theresa Buchanan, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
During a fire which destroyed the Buchanan home in Bay St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia, in the early hours of June 4, 1968, Theresa Buchanan, then sixteen years of age, helped save the lives of her younger brothers and sisters who were sleeping on the upper floor. It was early in the morning when fire, caused by a defective carburetor on the oil stove, broke out in the kitchen of the wooden structure. The father of the family, along with the eldest boy, had gone fishing and the mother was, at the time, a patient in a local hospital. When one of the children awoke to discover the fire, flames had already reached the dining room and completely cut off any passage from the stairway. As the others wakened, they jumped or were helped by Theresa Buchanan out through second floor windows. After she was sure that all nine were out, Theresa herself jumped to safety.