Brave scout.(The Goodness Of America)

Shortly after midnight on December 30, 2003, a fire ignited in Joni Wedekamm's two-story Parkersburg, West Virginia, residence. Mrs. Wedekamm and two of her three daughters (ages 11 and one) were asleep upstairs, and the oldest daughter, age 13, was in her own first-floor bedroom. Mrs. Wedekamm's son, 12-year-old Michael, was in his second-floor room.

At around 1:40 a.m., Michael beard his oldest sister running upstairs screaming, "Fire!" The blaze had begun in her bedroom. Mrs. Wedekamm woke up and called 911; the dispatcher told her to get everyone out of the house.

Due to the fast-spreading flames, the family was unable to exit via the front or back doors. They were forced, instead, to escape through an upstairs window onto the front-porch roof, then jump to the ground. Mrs. Wedekamm and the older girls jumped to safety, but Michael stayed behind to find and rescue his baby sister, Allisson, who remained trapped in an upstairs room.

Darting through smoke and flames, he reached the bedroom and found Allisson awake and already suffering some burns. He grabbed the infant, crouched down so his body covered hers, and tried to protect her from the ...