Driver went ‘above and beyond’ to alert family about fire: MLA
The man who alerted a Saskatoon family to the fact their house was at risk of catching fire may soon be honoured for his bravery.
Sam Hermez was on his way to work in Regina when he spotted a house fire in the Stonebridge neighbourhood from a nearby highway in the early hours of April 7. Pulling over to call 911, Hermez then left his truck, jumped a nearby fence and started banging on the doors and windows of the house next door to the fire in an effort to alert Suzanna D’Aprile and her family to the danger.
Now, a representative from the Royal Canadian Humane Association (RCHA) wants to nominate him for an award from the group, which recognizes “deeds of heroism” by Canadians in civilian life who save or attempt to save a life. Although the nomination process is still underway, Tim Popp, the RCHA’s Saskatchewan representative, said it’s important to honour acts of bravery.
“We don’t see stuff like this happen every day,” he said. “We don’t have the population base (like) Ontario or B.C. where incidents like this could happen lots. But in this case here, we don’t see a lot of it, we don’t read about it and hear about it enough here in Saskatchewan.”
Saskatoon University MLA Eric Olauson said he plans to nominate Hermez for the Premier’s Commendation Award, which honours exemplary service or actions by Saskatchewan residents.
“He took the time to make sure that his neighbours were safe, and that’s something we need to celebrate,” Olauson said, adding Hermez went “above and beyond” to help others.
Hermez said he did what anyone would have done, but it’s nice to be recognized.
“It just makes me feel good somebody appreciates what I did,” he said. His entire family is proud of him — some have even joked about needing an appointment to see him or get an autograph, he added.