A Canadian Tire manager pulled a homeless man from a fire to safety on Sunday night in Abbotsford.
The incident took place just before 9 p.m. in an empty lot behind Canadian Tire – located on Garden Street – and bordered by Simon Avenue.
The manager, James Cunningham, had spotted flames coming from a tree and grabbed a fire extinguisher. When he got to the area, he found the man, pulled him to safety and put out the flames, which were coming from a mattress.
“I didn’t even know he was there at first. I saw fire so I grabbed a fire extinguisher and went to go put it out and there was this (man) in the fire,” Cunningham said.
Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service crews were called to the scene following a report of a brush fire.
“When our crews arrived, they found that there was also a homeless person that was also involved with the fire,” said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Rivett.
The victim, who had been using the area as a camp, was treated on scene and was then taken to police cells for the evening due to his high level of intoxication.
It is believed that the fire was caused by smoking materials.
