'We couldn't get to him,' couple devastated after pulling woman from burning house, unable to save man
A Winnipeg couple says they barged into a burning house on Boyd Avenue Tuesday morning, saved woman
A Winnipeg couple say they didn't think twice before barging into a burning house Tuesday morning after hearing a woman crying for help.
"We saw her hand reaching, so we just pulled," said Samantha Zebrasky. "By the time she said her husband was in the house, it was too late, we couldn't get to him."
The fire broke out just before 7:00 a.m. at the corner of Boyd Avenue and Powers Street.
Fire officials said the man died and the woman is in the hospital.
Zebrasky and her partner, Ronald Richard, live beside the couple on Powers.
"I saw the ceiling collapse and the windows came busting out," said Richard, who believes the man was trapped in his bedroom.
"From what we understand, he was blind and he used a walker," he said.
The couple said once they got the woman across the street to safety, they called 911.
"We kept hearing him yell for help, but we couldn't get to him," said Zebrasky.
They said it took fire crews about 10 minutes to arrive. Fire officials said they had the blaze under control just before 8:00 a.m. and the cause is now under investigation.
'He is her whole life'
Police have not released the names of the people inside the home but Leigh Keast said the woman rescued from the fire is his aunt, Irene Gaudreau. He's already seen her in the hospital and said she suffered smoke inhalation and is in a medically induced coma.
"[Doctors] said there were no burns on her, just her hair was singed," said Keast.
He went to the house first thing in the morning after his neighbour sent him a daily text of the news and happenings in the neighbourhood. He said he immediately recognized his aunt's house as being the one on fire.
"I kind of phoned him up and said take me there. I didn't want to drive at that point and time because I was a bit upset," said Keast.
He said a police officer told him a neighbour pulled his aunt from the burning house.
"I would really like to thank that person," he said.
He said his aunt is in her late 60s and he is worried about what will happened to her once she is well enough to leave the hospital.
"I mean she has been with this guy since she was 15 years old and they have been kind of recluse together, so he is her whole life," said Keast. "That is going to have a drastic effect on her, plus she has lost everything she owns."
The young couple who rescued her said they wish they could have done more. They started a page on social media asking for donations to help the woman get back on her feet.
"We already got her a bag of clothes," said Zebrasky. "I know how much she loves cats... so we already got a kitten for her when she comes home, well, whenever she finds a home."
Fire officials said two cats died in the fire.