Fred Hucul and his wife Wendy thought the smoke coming into their Wascana Street home came from another location.
“First, my wife smelt a little smoke, then we both smelled smoke. And we thought it could have been coming around like a forest fire,” Fred Hucul said.
It turns out, it was right across the street.
“When I came into the front and looked out the window, I saw there was a small fire in their garage,” said Wendy.
It was 6:30 a.m. Wednesday when they spotted the fire Fred immediately called 911 while Wendy ran out to the neighbour’s house.
“Then my wife ran across the street, and banged on the window, and said ‘Get out! there’s a fire! They were sleeping in bed,” Fred recalled.
“So I ran over here, and I was screaming,” Wendy said. “And man, I learned that I can scream.”
Her screams woke up the male resident inside the burning house.
The neighbour came outside to help, not realizing it was his house burning.
“He said that he could smell something, he thought he was coming out to help somebody else because they could hear me screaming. It was actually them that, you know, they were the ones.”
The intensity of the fire spread to the house next door.
Despite Wendy’s banging on the front door, and the resident didn’t hear a thing.
Luckily fire fighters were on the scene by then.
“When they got here, they got here in full force, and the hose under full pressure,” Fred said.
The couple living in the house escaped with their dog.
Lt. Insp. Sean Lillis of the Saanich Fire Department said it’s fortunate that everyone is safe.
“The quick action of the neighbours should be commended. They did a great job, and in alerting us is great.”
As for their actions, Wendy said she doesn’t consider her or her husband as hero neighbours because anyone would have done it.
“Anyone would have ran out and tried to save their neighbours.”
The fire department says the fire started in the carport, but their investigation is ongoing.
READ MORE: Fire breaks out in dry brush near encampment along Dallas Road
Mary Griffin
