There were four people on the upper floor of a duplex in Lancaster, Ohio, and one door out. Fire was in front of it.
It was April 1, 2026. Crews were called to the duplex on East 5th Avenue around 1 a.m.
Mason Marshall was 27, a subcontractor. With him were his fiancée, their 5-year-old daughter, and their infant son.
The fire had started at ground level outside the building. It climbed the exterior, rose above the roof, and filled the home with thick black smoke.
Investigators later said the fire likely burned for about an hour before anyone called 911. The fire chief said its location blocked the exits for both units.
The building sat behind another property, reached by an alley, and firefighters had trouble getting to it.
Marshall went into his daughter's bedroom. He forced the window air conditioner out of its frame to open a way out.
He picked up his daughter and held her out through the opening, three stories up.
Below, neighbors brought a ladder and began raising it toward him. He was heard telling them he had to get the baby, and to hurry.
A police officer climbed the ladder. He took the girl from her father and carried her down.
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She was safe. Marshall was standing at an open window with a ladder against the wall beneath it.
He did not come down. He turned away from the window and went back into the smoke to find his fiancée and his son.
Firefighters later found Marshall in his daughter's room. His fiancée and son were found nearby, in another room.
All three died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the smoke.
Two other people in the building were rescued and treated at the scene for minor injuries. The cause was ruled undetermined, though the fire chief said the evidence pointed to an accident.
His daughter was the only one of the four who got out.
Relatives described Mason and his fiancée as devoted parents. His father started an online fund to cover the funerals and provide for the girl's future.
In 2026, Marshall was awarded the Carnegie Medal after his death. It is given to civilians in the United States and Canada who enter extreme danger to save or try to save the lives of others.
He was one of five people honored posthumously in that year's third award announcement. Each recipient, or the family of one who did not survive, receives a financial grant.
There was a ladder at the window and one child already at the bottom of it. He went back for the two who were still inside.
If one of your children was safe at the foot of the ladder and the other was somewhere in the smoke behind you, would you have climbed down?