Two Sacramento-Area Heroes Get Carnegie Awards

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A young woman from Washington state who rescued a baby from a burning home and a California college student who saved another student in a knife attack are among 25 winners of Carnegie medals for heroism.

The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced the honors Tuesday for people who risked their lives while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Robin Adair, a 22-year-old homemaker from Port Orchard, Wash., was driving with her boyfriend when they saw a mobile home's porch ablaze. A mother escaped with three of her children, but 11-month-old Bobbi Stott was trapped in a playpen in the smoke-filled home's master bedroom.

Adair removed a window screen and made her way through thick smoke to the playpen in the far corner of the room. She covered the baby with a blanket and, momentarily blinded by smoke, followed her boyfriend's voice to the window and handed Bobbi outside.

Another honoree is Cameron C. Gilbert, 19, of Cool in El Dorado County, who rescued Alex R. Abrahamian, 22, who was being stabbed on the sidewalk at Sierra College. Gilbert stepped between the men and pushed the assailant to the ground, kicking his knife out of reach. Abrahamian was hospitalized for three weeks but recovered from his injuries.

Also honored, 32-year-old Nathan Smith of Citrus Heights who died while trying to save is brother, Noel, who had fallen through an ice-covered lake in McArthur.  Noel also died in the 2009 accident.

Carnegie medalists, or their heirs, receive financial grants. More than $33.7 million has been awarded to 9,477 honorees since the fund's inception in 1904. New recipients are announced four times a year.

Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the fund after hearing rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.

Honorees for latest Carnegie Hero medals:

-- Joseph A. Buttaccio Jr., 47, and Anna Buttaccio, 45, of Lyons, N.Y., rescued Michael C. Cline, 30, from burning car after a crash, Palmyra, N.Y., June 10, 2010.

--Steven J. Keller, 30, and Christian Timmins, 31, of Covington, La., saved Rhonda W. Knickles, 49, from drowning in Lake Pontchartrain after a car accident, Mandeville, La., April 25, 2010.

--Nathan N. Smith, 32, of Citrus Heights, Calif., died trying to save his brother Noel B. Smith, 39, who also died after falling through an ice-covered lake, McArthur, Calif., Dec. 19, 2009.

--Jeffrey Lloyd Breuer, 50, of Eden Prairie, Minn., saved Arnold M. Bellis, 87, from drowning in his car after it rolled down a boat ramp and entered the Mississippi River, Saint Paul, Minn., May 8, 2010.

--Sean T. O'Connell, 38, of Mandeville, La., attempted to save Jeffrey W. Dickson, 39, from drowning when his sea plane crashed and overturned on the Oak River, Pointe Ga la Hache, La., July 24, 2010.

--Connelly Phelps Parker Jr., 52, of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Megan Elizabeth Allen, 25, of Raleigh, N.C., saved Richard B. Bennett, 59, from drowning when he as swept away by a current, North Myrtle Beach, S.C., Aug. 14, 2010.

--Dionysios Agelatos, 70, of Albany, Ga., died attempting to save his wife Barbara J. Agelatos, 57, who drowned May 15, 2010, South Palm Beach, Fla.

--Steve Fenton, 37, of Keansburg, N.J., helped save Brian Mendoza, 11 from drowning water in Raritan Bay after his inflatable raft was blown away from the beach, Keansburg, N.J., June 6, 2010.

--Michael T. Chura, 48, of Baldwinsville, N.Y., helped to save Priscilla R. Roslyn, 61, from her burning car after an accident, Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Aug. 11, 2010.

--Rickie D. McDowell, Jr., 19, of Lincoln Park, Mich., saved Michael L. Harris, 58 from drowning; and Kevin Moss, 20, of Southgate, Mich., saved Craig W. Noble, 56, from drowning in Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, Petoskey, Mich., Aug. 17, 2010.

--Roland Monte Blake, Jr., 44, of Shawnee, Okla., saved Ronnie D. Roets, 7, from drowning in a drainage ditch that extended through a residential neighborhood, Shawnee, Okla., July 3, 2010.

--Robin Adair, 22, of Port Orchard, Wash., saved Bobbi Stott, 11 months, from her family's burning mobile home, Belfair, Wash., Aug. 22, 2010.

--William B. Jackson, Jr., 21, of Hendersonville, N.C., died attempting to save his father William B. Jackson Sr., 47, who also died from drowning in a cove of Lake Adger, Mill Spring, N.C., May 30, 2010.

--Timothy Lee Rostar, 46, Alanson, Mich., rescued Robert G. Wiley, 65, from an 1,800-pound bull that pinned him in his barn, Alanson, Mich., April 18, 2009.

--Matthew Charles Logan, 29, Moscow, Idaho; Kevin Joseph Barbee, 44, Lewiston, Idaho; and Donald L. Galloway, 44, Genesee, Idaho, saved Kerry A. Wagner, 51, from a burning pickup truck after an accident, Moscow, Idaho, June 27, 2010.

--Cameron C. Gilbert, 19, Cool, Calif., rescued Alex R. Abrahamian, 21, as he was being stabbed on the sidewalk at a college campus, Rocklin, Calif., March 24, 2009.

--Allyson Powell, 31, North Dighton, Mass.; Robert Hugh Flanagan, 61, Denver, Colo.; and George J. Flanagan, 63, Swansea, Mass., saved Michael A. Canty, 23, from his burning sport utility vehicle after a crash, Swansea, Mass., July 21, 2010.