Two Saskatchewan police officers have shared their experience of saving a woman from a smoke-filled house during a wellness check.
It was late November 2022, shortly before 5 a.m. in a community north of Regina.
According to a release, two Southey RCMP officers were at a call for service when someone made a spontaneous comment to check on the well-being of a woman at another residence within their detachment area.
Constables Brandyn McCartney and Jacob Jungheim arrived at the residence and noted several lights were on inside. They approached the residence and knocked on the door.
“Initially what was strange when we went to the residence was an ‘off’ smell, like burnt toast,” stated Cst. McCartney. “But there was nothing emitting from the residence that would indicate a full-on blaze. Upon doing a walk around the residence to see if anyone was inside, we noticed an odd haze or fog. At first it seemed like dirty windows, but upon a closer look we realized it was a house full of floor-to-ceiling smoke.”
Cst. McCartney realized that if he was picking up on something, his partner likely was too.
“I smelled the burning, but didn’t think much of it until I spoke to Jacob about it, and he also smelled it,” stated Cst. McCartney. “Once we both noticed the smoke, we communicated a game plan as to who was checking what door to gain access.”
After receiving no response to their knocking and with the smoke concerns, the officers tried opening a door and windows, to no avail. They found a set of keys near the back door it but did not match the lock – the officers tried them in the front door with success.
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Upon entering, McCartney did a search of the smoke-filled home and located an unresponsive woman in a bedroom.
“I didn’t see her at first,” he said. “The female was hidden under a layer of blankets that obscured any human shape. I grabbed the blankets quickly and felt a leg, so I threw the blanket off and found her laying there. My initial thought at this point was that she was deceased, as I could barely breathe, and I had only been in the residence for a moment. I shook her and was able to get a response.”
Jungheim said when he heard his partner say there was someone inside the house, he rushed in without hesitation to try to get the person to safety.
“My immediate reaction was to get them out as soon as possible. I could see someone laying on the bed with a blanket over them,” he said. “I just knew I had to get her out of the smoke that was in the house – it was my main priority at that moment.”
The two officers carried the woman outside; she was confused and unaware that her house was full of smoke.
Since she was not dressed for the weather, she was taken to a nearby residence for warmth where she was assessed by emergency medical services.
Jungheim stayed at the scene as the fire department arrived. After the smoke dissipated, officers and firefighters discovered there was no actual fire, but located severely burnt food inside a microwave.
“This was the first call of this nature I’ve been to in my almost four years with the RCMP, but I’ve been to a number of calls now that, as a result of our actions, have definitely prevented death. It’s something that becomes fairly routine … then you get back to your next task,” McCartney said.
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