Star of Courage
Awarded on: 1984-09-24
Invested on: 1985-03-15
In the early morning of 1 December 1983, Metro Toronto Police Off. Steven Donovan was instrumental in the rescue of two individuals from a burning house. While on patrol, Cst. Donovan answered an emergency call to the scene of a house fire. Informed that two men were trapped on the second floor he ran inside and crawled on his hands and knees up the stairs. Unprotected by a breathing apparatus in the dense smoke, Cst. Donovan found the men collapsed in the hallway. Aware that every second mattered he pulled the unconscious men some distance but, feeling lightheaded and weak, dragged only one down the stairs, fully prepared to return later. Groping his way towards the front door, Cst. Donovan became lost but, guided by the voice of a fellow officer, succeeded in carrying the man to safety. Unbearable heat and smoke forced him out soon after he had re-entered. Meanwhile the Fire Department arrived and Cst. Donovan then told a firefighter where to locate the missing occupant, who was saved. Cst. Donovan was treated for smoke inhalation.