Updated Jan. 31
A Malakwa volunteer firefighter’s training may have helped to save his life when a fire broke out in his own home Sunday night.
The Malakwa Volunteer Fire Department was called out at 10:35 p.m. to a reported mobile home fire in the 4700 block of Delaney Road. Columbia Shuswap Regional District fire services co-ordinator Kenn Mount said the residence belonged to a Malakwa fire department volunteer.
Mount says the owner woke up to sounds of crackling, and saw an orange glow. He first tried to exit by the front door. The attempt let a rush of hot air in that may have been responsible for burns received on his head. He then made his way to the back of the mobile, where he managed to escape through the back door. Mount says the man, in his mid 50s, was taken to hospital in Salmon Arm for treatment, and was released soon after.
“His training really, I would say, was what got him out of there,” says Mount. “Because he tried to go out the front door, and he realized the smoke level was dropping… he knew enough to get down low and stay low to get to the backdoor. Otherwise, a lot of people would have stood up, taken a couple breaths of the thermal layer, is what we call it. You take a couple of breaths of those toxic fumes and it’s game over.”
Mount says the man is in pretty good shape, but emotionally rattled by the incident.
“I know he’s a little bit rattled, but he’s doing okay, he’s got support there,” says Mount. “And of course, being a member of the fire department, he’s got extra support there also.”
Mount says the residence was insured and that an insurance investigator was on the scene Monday, at the same time Mount was there trying to determine the cause of the fire, which he says began up front. This eliminated the possibility of the fire being caused by a wood stove. However, given the extent of the damage, the actual cause could not be officially determined.
“We were only able to recover a few items and, interestingly, one of the few books to survive was one of his firefighting instructional books,” says Mount. “That was about it, a couple books and maybe some ornaments, from the front of the trailer. In the back, there are still a few things intact.”
Another irony occurred during the escape, according to Mount, when the occupant heard his pager go off and realized it was for his own home.
Firefighters were still on the scene Tuesday afternoon, tending to hotspots contained within the wreckage.
“They’ve been on fire watch, making sure nothing rekindles over the last 24 hours, so there’s still a fire department presence there,” said Mount.
Mount confirmed that the occupant’s pickup truck was also damaged by the blaze.
“There was enough flame coming out of the front door at the time that it melted, like, the passenger-side headlamp, the mirror, the trimming and the door handles,” he said. “And also, it looks like the windshield was fractured from it.”
Photos by Victoria Rowbottom
