A Canmore family says they are lucky to be alive thanks to the help of a quick-thinking neighbour who called 911 and a nearby firefighter who alerted them that their home was burning in the middle of the night.
Kerri and Leslee Bosert along with their one-year-old son and three-year-old daughter were fast asleep in their 3rd Street home when flames began tearing through the roof around 3:30 a.m. on Friday Feb. 25.
The family was woken up by firefighter Brad Johnson who lived just a few doors down and rang their doorbell multiple times to ensure everyone got out of the home safely.
"There was no way of knowing that anything was happening until someone did alert us," said Leslee.
"We don't know him well, but we do know him and he thought we might be home so he stopped off at our house before he went to the fire station to join the call and then come back to fight the fire. We owe him and the person who called 911 a lot because they saved us."
At the time, Johnson had just finished a long shift working his other occupation as a bus driver. He says he was about to fall asleep when he heard a dispatch alert of the fire on his phone.
"I looked at the address and I knew exactly where that house was, maybe just five or six houses up the street so I immediately went outside to see," he said.
"I could hear the crackling of the fire so on my way to the fire hall I made sure to stop by their house because it was very clear the family was still inside.
Local firefighter Jacqueline Hutchison also responded to the call and noted how crucial it was to get everyone out of that home safely, especially since the smoke detectors inside failed to go off.
"All of the smoke and heat was actually in that ceiling space, there wasn't an attic, there was just a ceiling and that space was completely filled with heat and smoke," Hutchsion said.
"We're saddened as a department that the house lost its ceiling and it’s going to either be a tear down or rebuild, but we are mostly happy that no one was injured, including that family and our firefighters."
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it’s suspected that a number of flammable pinecones placed inside the roof by squirrels could have played a factor.
In total, 12 Canmore firefighters, four from Exshaw and six from Banff responded to the call.
The Bossert family is thanking the Roundhouse Daycare for providing extra childcare, while they rent another home for the time being and rebuild their lives.
A Go Fund Me page has since been set up for the Bossert family, with a goal of raising $12,000. A total of $5,835 has been raised as of Friday afternoon.
"We just want to thank everyone for all that they are doing," Leslee said.
"We didn't realize how many people would come to our aid when we needed them and that's pretty special."
