Braving the inferno.(The Goodness of America)

Shortly after noon on September 1, 2002, Mrs. Sigrid Szymczak-Hopson, 70, was at her cabin in the San Gabriel Canyon of California's Angeles National Forest when a forest fire ignited about three miles distant and began moving toward the cabin. The "Curve Fire," as it became known, burned more than 1,000 acres of forest during its first hour, and eventually consumed more than 21,000 acres over 12 days.

As the blaze began spreading, authorities ordered evacuation of the area. Mrs. Szymczak-Hopson, however, refused to leave the cabin despite repeated efforts by her husband and law enforcement personnel to convince her otherwise. Mr. Hopson told authorities that his wife had lost her first husband and only son under tragic circumstances. Distraught, she was now prepared to use a handgun she possessed to shoot herself and the couple's three dogs to avoid being burned alive.

When the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department learned of the situation, deputies Paul Archambault and John Rose II offered to help rescue the elderly woman. Setting out for her cabin in an SUV, they were stopped at a roadblock and warned by firefighters that the route was impassable. Undeterred, the deputies drove off-road into the forest, navigating around burning brush and other debris. The extreme heat singed their arms and made the vehicle's surfaces too hot to touch.

As the deputies approached to within a quarter-mile of the cabin, they were barely able to see through the dense smoke. Since the SUV had sustained significant damage, they decided that Deputy Archambault should remain with it in a small patch that had not been consumed by the fire. He kept it moving ...