On the evening of 15 December 1981, Ontario Provincial Police Cst. Victor Bruzas of the Sault Ste. Marie Detachment, showed exceptional courage and devotion to duty. While on patrol, Cst. Bruzas arrived at the scene of a house on fire at the Garden River Indian Reserve. On learning that an eighteen-month-old girl was in her room, located above the living-room where the flames had originated, he crawled through the front entrance but was repeatedly driven back by smoke and heat. Aware that every second mattered he re-entered, unprotected by special clothing or breathing apparatus. Keeping close to the floor, the policeman reached the bedroom at the end of the hallway. He found the little girl lying in her crib and quickly seized her. Through suffocating smoke, feeling the walls of the corridor as guide, Cst. Bruzas carried the child out in his arms. As he brought the baby to safety the flames pierced through the floor in front of her room. Without his prompt action the girl would surely have perished.