'She’s definitely a hero': Saanich woman helps sleeping neighbours escape house fire
Two people and their dog are safe after a fire destroyed their home Wednesday morning in Saanich, B.C.
A neighbour is being credited with alerting the homeowners to the fire. The homeowners are calling her a hero.
Wendy Hucul and her husband woke up at 6:30 a.m. to the smell of smoke and realized the house across the street was on fire.
“I could see the fire in the garage and it just popped,” said Hucul.
She immediately call 911. Knowing that her neighbours’ bedroom shares a wall with the carport that was engulfed in flames, she jumped into action.
“I ran full speed across the street, screaming and yelling at them,” said Hucul. “It took a number of screams to wake them up.”
Rhys Murphy was the man sleeping inside the house.
“We heard someone yelling ‘our neighbours’ house is on fire’ and my first thought was that it was someone else in the neighbourhood,” said Murphy.
Murphy ran out of his house to help his neighbour and realized it was actually his home that was on fire.
After getting his wife and dog out of the house, he saw the fire had spread to his neighbour’s home.
“My neighbour’s in danger so running over to hammer on her door and wake her up and make sure that she is going to be OK,” said Murphy.
Fire crews soon arrived and were able to quickly extinguish the blaze. Murphy’s neighbour’s house was saved but unfortunately his home is a total loss.
"There’s major fire damage and extensive smoke damage," said Saanich deputy fire chief Dan Wood.
“At this point the cause has not been determined,” said Staff-Sgt. Chris Horsley with the Saanich police.
Police are requesting any security footage from the neighbourhood that could be helpful to the investigation.
“If they see somebody out on the street or anything suspicious this morning after 6 a.m., certainly to give us a call at the Saanich Police Department,” said Horsley.
As Murphy tries to come to terms with the loss of his home, he is thankful for his neighbour.
“She’s definitely a hero,” said Murphy. “She jumped into action.”
Hucul doesn’t think she’s a hero.
“No, I’m not a hero. Anybody would have done that,” said Hucul. “I don’t feel like I saved their lives.”
“I’m just glad that it turned out the way that it turned out,” she added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.