Medal of Bravery
Awarded on: 1985-11-25
Invested on: 1986-03-21
Cornwall Firefighter Wayne Carpenter did not hesitate to enter a large burning building on April 24, 1984, when he learned that a family was trapped on an upper floor. Feeling his way through thick, black smoke he eventually found the family, but was unable to convince the parents to follow him out. Carrying one child, and with another holding his coat, he groped his way to an exit where others took the children. He returned immediately to the apartment, again failing to convince the adults to follow him. Aware that time was short and afraid he would lose his way in the dense smoke, he carried the third child down the hall and stairs, stumbling at the bottom. As the child was taken from him, he informed another firefighter that the parents were still inside then collapsed from heat prostration. He had been in the building almost 30 minutes.