Stanley Powis rescued a man from a fire which claimed the life of the man's sister and destroyed their home in Stratford on 25 February 1979. In an effort to extinguish the flames, the eighty-one- year-old man had been overcome by smoke and collapsed at the top of the stairs. When Mr. Powis arrived on the scene he was advised by other members of the family that both the man and his bed- ridden sister were trapped on the second floor. Without a moment's hesitation Mr. Powis braved the heat and smoke and found the man prostrate on the floor and carried him to safety. He then repeated his efforts to save the other victim; but fire bursting out of a bedroom forced him downstairs, and nothing further could be done to save the sister.