Firefighter Iain Fraser McFarlane, M.B.
Firefighter John Frederick Mulligan, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
By the time the London Fire Department arrived at the house, on August 30, 1984, the fire was well advanced. Donning masks, Firefighters McFarlane and Mulligan entered and started upstairs to find the lone occupant left inside. Forced to proceed on hands and knees, they reached the landing and searched two rooms. They found the victim and began to drag him out, experiencing considerable difficulty maintaining a grip on the mostly-naked body. On the stairs their oxygen low-level alarms sounded, indicated 5-minutes of air remaining; at the bottom of the stairs, still on all fours, they became disoriented in the heat and zero visibility. Finding themselves in the living-room and unsure of which way to go, they calmly searched about until they located a window, broke it, and passed the unconscious man to others. Their ordeal had lasted 20 minutes and both sustained burns, but their persistent refusal to leave the victim and save themselves prevented the loss of a life.