Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: July 20, 1972
• Invested on: June 08, 1973

Fred Maxfield, M.B.
James G. Scarlett, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

Fred Maxfield, 37, and James Scarlett, 36, rescued a fellow-worker knocked unconscious by a short circuit 130 feet above the ground on an electric power transmission tower. On the afternoon of March 29, 1967, three linemen of the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission were at work on a cross bar high up on a transmission tower near Petrolia, Ontario when an arc from the 230,000 volt power line hit all three. One of the linemen was left unconscious, his clothes afire, slumped over the cross bar. Messrs. Maxfield and Scarlett scrambled out onto the cross bar and went to the victim's assistance, ignoring the high voltage conductor near him. In order to help the unconscious man, they had to work without their safety belts. They managed to beat out the flames from their colleague's burning clothing and to apply immediate artificial respiration on that hazardous perch high above the ground. By the time other workers climbed up the tower with lines to lower the injured lineman to the ground, his two comrades had succeeded in bringing him around to the point where he was able to help in his own rescue. The victim did not, however, recover from the effects of the accident but died later in hospital.