DISTINGUISHED Conduct Awards from the Society For The Protection Of Life From Fire were also given to two policemen who bravely went into burning flats to rescue people.
Firearms officers Pcs Paul Headlong and Andrew Talbot were on patrol in Dalton early on Saturday, August 14, last year when a woman ran into the road and collapsed unconscious.
They gave her first aid and then went into a nearby block of flats.
One flat was on fire. The constables feared other people could be trapped and searched one flat crawling on their stomachs below the dense, toxic smoke. They searched two other flats, where they roused two elderly people and a young couple with a baby.
Both officers needed hospital treatment for the effects of breathing in smoke.
Pc Talbot: "It's only when you have been in a situation like that you realise the dangers of smoke. It was terrible in there."
