Residents from northern and northeastern Pennsylvania were recently honored for acts of heroism or commitment to burn education at the seventh annual Valley Preferred Spirit of Courage Awards Celebration held at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Muhlenberg. The program was started locally by Valley Preferred, Lehigh Valley Health Network and the Burn Prevention Network to recognize persons who go “above and beyond” to perform a heroic act to save someone from burn deaths or injury. Allentown fire chief Robert Scheirer presented one of the awards to civilian Kenneth Martin who rescued several people from a burning building.

Kenneth Martin will soon be honored at the seventh Valley Preferred Spirit of Courage Awards. Martin of Allentown, Pa., was working security at an establishment on North Seventh Street of Allentown in the early hours of April 23 when he spotted an orange glow across the street. Seeing a child through a first-floor window spurred him to run into the building to evacuate its occupants. When he learned there was possibly a woman still on the third floor – the fire location – he ran back to retrieve a fire extinguisher and attempted to put out the fire while assisting residents. The home was destroyed, but nine people escaped with their lives thanks in part to Martin’s selfless actions.