In December 2010 Jason W. Thurston of Northport, Maine rescued neighbor Nina Tyutyunnykk from a fire that engulfed her bedroom and threatened to take her life. Tyutyunnykk kept trying to return in order put out the flames, but Thurston repeatedly went in the house to save her. Thurston was treated at the emergency room for smoke inhalation but recovered.

For this act of bravery the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded a Carnegie medal of heroism and a financial grant to Thurston. The fund was started by Andrew Carnegie after hearing tales of heroism from a mine disaster that killed 181 people. According to its Web site the fund's mission is "to recognize people who perform heroic acts in civilian life and to provide financial help to those disabled, or to the dependents of those killed, by their heroism."