Three men decided not just to stand by and watch but to take action. All three put their lives at risk to save others.

John Flanigan, 57 at the time, rescued 6-year-old Lindsey Stocke from the basement of her family's burning house on Aug. 15, 2005.

Ben Saks, 21, was shot in his left hand while helping a police officer on Feb. 25.

	Matt, Post-Gazette John Flanigan, of Overbrook, is receiving his Carnegie Hero award for rescuing Lindsey Stocke, 6, from the basement of her family's burning house in August 2005. Click photo for larger image.

Charles Hetrick, 54 at the time, rescued Martha Rich, who used a wheelchair, from a fire in the kitchen of her mobile home on Feb. 23.

The men's deeds made them heroes, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission said yesterday.

The commission's 21-member committee decided that Mr. Flanigan of Overbrook, Mr. Saks of Shadyside and Mr. Hetrick of Brookville, Jefferson County, all risked their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Each will receive a bronze medal and a $4,000 grant.

Thirteen others from the United States and Canada will be honored.

On Feb. 25, at about 4 p.m., Mr. Saks, a Carnegie Mellon University architecture student, left his house on Bellefonte Street to go to a basketball game. When he walked out the back door, he saw a police officer struggling with a man in the back yard and immediately went to the officer's aid.

As Mr. Saks ran toward him, the officer said, "Help me hold him down."

"It didn't last very long until the guy got to the police officer's gun," Mr. Saks said.

Omar Pagan, a suspected drug dealer from Miami, took the weapon and fired. A bullet passed through the gun's holster and struck Mr. Saks' left hand before other officers arrived and arrested Mr. Pagan.

Mr. Saks has fully recovered. He said because of what he experienced, he has a greater appreciation of people who offer help.

"I thank the Carnegie Hero Fund for the award," he said. "But I feel like in that situation anyone should have stepped forward and done the same thing."

Mr. Flanigan, 58, feels similarly.

"It is nice to be recognized," he said. "But what I did didn't seem like a big deal to me."

The bricklayer and his co-workers, Ivan Bralj and Miroslav Markovic, had finished a job on Mullooly Street in Overbrook in the morning of Aug. 15, 2005, when Tom Episcopo, who was bringing his daughter Angie home from tennis practice, told them that a nearby house was on fire. They jumped into their truck and sped to the scene.

"You don't have a plan, you don't know what you're doing," Mr. Flanigan said of their actions that day. Eventually, he got into the basement, where Lindsey was, by kicking in an air conditioner.

When he went inside, he couldn't see anything because of dense smoke. He had to make several trips back to the window to get fresh air before he found the child lying on the floor.

Since he feels he was only one of many individuals involved in Lindsey's rescue and recovery, Mr. Flanigan said he would accept the award on behalf of all of who helped: his co-workers, Mr. Episcopo, and Lindsey's mother, Denise Hardy, to name only a few.

Mr. Hetrick, now 55, heard a report on his scanner Feb. 23 that a fire had broken out in the nearby mobile home of 58-year-old Martha Rich. When he went to the scene, smoke and heat had kept neighbors from entering.

"I didn't hesitate for a second and went in," said Mr. Hetrick, a retired volunteer firefighter. When he opened the front door, he heard Ms. Rich moan.

He crawled across the living room floor, found her lying next to the kitchen and dragged her about 50 feet to the front door, where a neighbor helped him get her out of the burning house.

Ms. Rich recovered from smoke inhalation and a burn to her arm. Mr. Hetrick also suffered from smoke inhalation but recovered.

"It's a good feeling to get the award," he said. "I feel honored because they don't give out a lot of them."

Carnegie Medals will be presented to the three local men and the 13 other heroes later this year. The Carnegie Hero Fund was established in 1904 by steel maker Andrew Carnegie to recognize the deeds of ordinary citizens who did extraordinary things. Since then, 9,028 people have been honored, 67 of them this year.