With a panic-stricken elderly lady and her loyal dog unable to leave their fire-ravaged home in Innisfail, her desperate neighbours yelled at each other to find a way to save her from the rapidly growing inferno.
It was shortly after 6 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 6 when Innisfail peace officer Sgt. Derek Radatzke arrived at a chaotic scene at the Westwood Court Mobile Home Park.
“When I came in (the park) there were flames 20 to 30 feet high. It lit up the whole trailer park,” said Radatzke. “I got out of my vehicle. There were lots lights and sirens and bystanders yelling, ‘she’s still in the house. She's still in the house.”
The situation was so desperate bystanders and neighbours were seen by emergency responders breaking windows to give the lady a way out of the escalating fire.
“I saw an elderly woman in the house. I saw the dog in the house, the German shepherd. I asked her if she could get out of the house,” said Radatzke, adding the front entrance was blocked by the fire. “And so she said, ‘Well, there's a back door but it's blocked.
“And so I ran around the backside, and there's no gate there. The only gate access was in the front, which was engulfed in flames. I then jumped over her back fence into her yard.”
In the meantime several firefighters from Innisfail, Bowden and Red Deer County had arrived to battle the blaze that began in a front yard shed and was spreading into another home immediately north.
When Radatzke arrived at the back door the problem for the 69-year-old lady and her loyal but anxious dog was immediately obvious.
“She tried to open that door from the inside, and it was blocked by snow,” said Radatzke.
However, the veteran peace officer pulled and pulled the door with repeated full force and the door opened enough to free the woman and her anxious and protective canine.
“And almost as soon as she came out, so did her German shepherd. The poor dog is traumatized and sees a strange man breaking into his house, essentially,” said Radatzke, conceding he might have damaged the door to save the woman and her loyal canine. “The dog did give me a few a few bites on the leg, nothing major, just a few bruises.”
Radatzke was then able to move the elderly lady, who was clad in a coat, toque and gloves, to the backyard. Her loyal canine was placed right beside her.
The peace officer stayed with them while firefighters continued to battle the blaze, which had spread to the mobile park home immediately north.
Gary Leith, fire chief of the Innisfail Fire Department, said the elderly lady was checked by EMS at the scene.
Aside from being in shock by the frightening experience she did not sustain any injuries, said Leith.
She was later transported with her canine to her daughter’s home in town.
“It’s really stressful, especially being trapped inside of a trailer when a significant fire was spreading, and I'm sure she was quite frightened at that point in time like anybody would be,” said Leith.
He said the team of firefighters had the blaze fully extinguished by 8:30 a.m.
Leith said two sheds in the front of the home and the porch area, along with windows and a car, sustained serious damage that is now being looked at by an insurance adjuster.
“At this point in time it (home) is not habitable,” said Leith, adding the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. He added foul play is not suspected.
As for Leith’s peace officer coming to the rescue at a potentially deadly fire scene he said Radatzke showed admirable valour by going “above and beyond.”
“Clearly Derek has gone above and beyond. He took the initiative to certainly go and assist and get the lady and her animal out of the building while we focused on control of the fire,” said Leith, adding it was not the first time Radatzke and other local peace officers have assisted citizens out of dangerous building fire incidents.
“Unfortunately, when fire occurs people are reluctant to leave or feel like they can deal with it themselves, and sometimes they need some encouragement from our first responders to turn around and get them out,” said Leith.
“That wasn't the case in this incident. She was attempting to try to get out of the building,” he added. “She was held back by the snow and a blocked door.”
Meanwhile, the lady’s canine will not be punished for biting Radatzke.
The canine was fully vaccinated by a local veterinarian, and judged by emergency responders as only protecting the home and human during a time of crisis.
