An Edmonton man says his decision to run into a burning house on Saturday afternoon was all about looking out for his fellow neighbour.
Shawn Dowling was one of several people who tried to help at the scene of a house on fire in the area of 164 Avenue NW and 91 Street NW.
Dowling lives about six doors down from the house and was doing yard work with his son when he saw black plumes of smoke.
“I thought maybe it was just somebody having a fire,” he said. “I saw a few more bigger clouds so then maybe thought somebody was having problems with the barbecue or something, or something was on fire.”
As he ran down the block closer to the house, he said he could see flames shooting from the roof of the home. After ensuring someone had called 911, he said his mindset shifted to whether anyone was inside the burning building.
Dowling said he and a few other neighbours banged on the front door but there was no response. He looked in and saw smoke but no flames so decided to go inside.
“Basically kicked the door in and let the smoke out. I looked, called and screamed. You could hear the smoke detector going off. A couple people went around the other way to have a look. And then basically I scurried up the stairs to see if anybody was up there. The smoke was so bad. You couldn’t even see.”
Dowling didn’t find anyone inside the house. He came back outside where other neighbours were helping a man in the back of the house who was trying to put out the fire with a garden hose.
On Saturday, district fire Chief Ed Ernst said the man suffered burns to his left arm.
Knowing fire crews were on the way, Dowling said he couldn’t just sit back and watch.
“I’m always going to do something,” he said. “I made that decision if I can get up there and see if anybody’s up there, I’m going to try and do what I can.
“That’s what community is, that’s what having neighbours is about. We want everyone to look out for our neighbourhood, whether it’s anything — fires, criminals, all sorts — we look out for each other, right? You never know what predicament some neighbour is in and if you can get to that and give some kind of assistance before medics or the fire department gets there, we try to look out for each other.
“It wasn’t just one person. There were multiple people involved. No one was just sitting back watching.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Ernst said it appears it started on the deck and made its way up the back of the house and into the attic.
A spokesperson with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services said damage is estimated at $450,000.
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