Three young men escaped with just the clothes on their backs after a firefighting friend broke down their door and got them out of their burning home on Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan.
The three brothers had stayed up all night keeping an eye on the fire near their home in southeast Saskatchewan, but fell asleep on the morning of May 10, after they thought it was under control.
Firefighters had done a back burn around the house, but the fire jumped it at some point.
When James Dieter, a firefighter and band councillor on the First Nation, pulled up that morning, the west side of the house was on fire.
A fire truck was there and firefighters were working on the house, but no one had checked if anyone was inside.
“I know the people who live there. The boys are my good friends,” Dieter said in an interview. “So I kicked open the door because it was locked, and then I yelled around and, sure enough, the boys were all sleeping still.”
Dieter woke up the brothers and got them out. Within 15 or 20 minutes, the whole house was “completely gone, burnt.”
The brothers’ mom, Loretta Walker, wasn’t home. She and the three boys — Trey, Trevor and Tristan — were feeling too overwhelmed for an interview, but their cousin Connie Walker said they are “so thankful” everyone is OK.
“We want to thank all of the volunteer firefighters who worked so hard and we are especially grateful to James for his bravery,” she said in a statement provided to CBC.
“Although my aunt and her boys are facing so much uncertainty right now, it’s heartening to see the outpouring of support from our community near and far.”
Dieter said the brush fire had started five days earlier and firefighters from surrounding communities — including Peepeekisis Cree Nation, Star Blanket Cree Nation, Little Black Bear First Nation, the town of Balcarres, Cowessess First Nation, Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, Piapot First Nation and Muscowpetung First Nation — had all been contributing to fighting it.
The Walkers’ home was the only one lost.
“All the communities came together and fought the fire and it was just awesome to have all the help and support,” Dieter said.
Okanese First Nation is about 100 kilometres northeast of Regina.
