Neighbour saves family’s lives
Terrace man got mother, children out of burning home in ‘nick of time’
A Terrace mother and her two young children survived a house fire thanks to a brave neighbour and an unplanned late-night skate.
James Giles, still awake well past his normal bedtime Tuesday night because his son had stayed after hockey practice to skate with the senior men’s team, noticed light flickering through his window around 11:45 p.m.
“I knew something was going on,” Giles said.
When the 40-year-old looked out and saw the house across the street in flames, he yelled at his wife to call 911 and rushed to the scene.
“The first thing that crossed my mind was my kids — what would I do,” he said.
He banged on the front door, loud enough for his wife to hear him across the street, but got no response.
He picked up a rock and threw it through a window.
“As soon as that rock went through, smoke just billowed out,” Giles said. “It’s hard to describe: It happened fast and it happened slow. I yelled and screamed. I couldn’t hear anything.”
Suddenly the front door opened and the mom appeared, confused and dazed.
“She asked me what was going on,” Giles said. “I said, ‘Your house is on fire. Where are your children?’ ”
Hearing the voice of the boy, who he believes is about 10, Giles felt his way through the black smoke while waving his other arm. He located the boy, whose father was out of town for work, and got him outside.
When he went back in, Giles said he could make out a vague silhouette of the mother, who appeared to be frozen with shock, holding her daughter on a staircase.
He grabbed the girl, who is about six, and cupped his hand over her nose and mouth to keep her from inhaling more smoke. He got her outside, then dived back into the noxious fumes and five-metre flames a third time.
“I ran back, went behind the mom and pushed her toward the door,” Giles said.
There is no doubt he saved the lives of the mother, children and family dog, local fire Chief John Klie said.
“He got that family out in the nick of time,” Klie said. “We don’t usually recommend you do what he did.
“We’re trained, we have gear, a hose line, other people there to help, but it’s a hard one. Whenever anyone risks their life to save lives, it’s hard to be critical.”
Giles, who works in health and safety and has a background in emergency response, suffered some lung damage and had a headache for a couple of days, but said there was less irritation in his chest on Friday.
He said he’s not a hero, that it was a neighbourhood effort and that anyone in his shoes would have done the same thing. Humanity just kicked in, he said.
“That night, my son had a hockey practice and he had the opportunity to stay on the ice afterward and skate with the Terrace River Kings,” Giles said. “So we came home late and had dinner around 11.
“Basically it boils down to my schedule being all screwed up that day.”