Phillip Bock

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

SHEBOYGAN - A Sheboygan Falls girl who died attempting to save her siblings from a house fire has been posthumously honored with the Carnegie medal of heroism.

Natalie Renee Martin, 11, led her 9-year-old sister, Jenna, to safety when their house caught fire on Jan. 26. Martin then went back into the home in an attempt to rescue two other siblings, Benjamin Martin, 10, and Carter Maki, 7, but all three became trapped by thick smoke in a second floor bedroom of the home and later passed due to complications from smoke inhalation.

Natalie was one of 21 nationally who were awarded with Carnegie medals for extraordinary civilian heroism on Tuesday.

The medal is awarded to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others, according to the Carnegie website. Natalie was one of four awardees who died while performing heroic acts.

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Although the cause of the fire was officially ruled "undetermined," it appeared to have started in the basement. Natalie initially discovered the fire and alerted her sister, Jenna, leading her to safety before heading back into the home to alert the other siblings.

Firefighters responding to the home, battling smoke and intense heat, located Natalie, Benjamin and Carter together in a second-floor bedroom. All three later died of complications from smoke inhalation: Carter that night, Natalie the next morning and Benjamin one day later.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, established 112 years ago by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, investigates stories of heroism and awards medals and cash several times a year.

About $38.7 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance. Commission Chair Mark Laskow said each of the awardees or their survivors will receive a financial grant.

The commission has given away $38.7 million to 9,914 awardees or their families since 1904, according to the Carnegie website. The heroes announced Tuesday bring the total awarded in 2016 to 93.

Reach reporter Phillip Bock at 920-453-5121, pbock@sheboyganpress.com, or @bockling on Twitter