Neighbour alerted tenants to danger

Kelly Smith was just leaving her apartment building Friday when the smell of smoke overcame her.

The top floor of an adjacent building on Brooklyn Drive, off Vimy Road, was engulfed in flames.

“There was this huge, billowing, steamrolling smoke pouring out of the roof,” Smith said.

She ran to the entrance of the building, anxious to help if she could.

“I just felt so helpless, in that moment the only wish I had in the world was to have a hose,” she said.

Smith helped an elderly woman and her family out of the building before going back inside, banging on doors and yelling to alert tenants of the danger.

“I was hysterical, I really was,” she said.

Once all residents had filed out of the building Smith turned her attention to other lives still in danger.

Three cats living in a bottom floor apartment had been too frightened to leave with their owner and remained in the burning building. Smith knew they would die from smoke inhalation if they didn’t get fresh air.

“I knew I couldn’t break a window myself because a baseball bat wouldn’t do it and I would probably get hurt by glass, so I called over a police officer and he smashed the window for them,” she said.

It wasn’t known Friday afternoon if the cats had survived. Police and fire officials arrived shortly after residents had fled the building.

“Thank God for fire departments; everyone was so great. The police and firefighters got here so fast,” said Smith.

“I tried to do everything. I mean, I’ve never been confronted with anything like that before,” she said. “People didn’t even know the place was on fire.”