Welland man suffers burns in trailer fire
Tim Gilby says his brother-in-law David Lopes is a hero after the Welland man saved his family from a trailer fire Saturday.
Gilby says Lopes potentially saved others from being hurt during the fire at Pine Cone Campground in Penobsquis, New Brunswick, as well.
“They were sleeping when a fire alarm woke Dave up. He brought his one son outside and then went back into the fire, wrapped his other son up in a blanket and got him outside.
“He’s a hero … he saved his sons Xavier and Gabriel.”
Gilby says it was his sister Charla’s service dog, Xena, that woke her up.
“She tried to kick a window out to get out of the trailer but her dog pulled on her arm and pushed her toward the door.”
Unfortunately, Xena perished in the fire.
“Dave didn’t want an explosion to happen and damage any other trailers or hurt anyone else so he went back to the fully-involved trailer to take off the propane tanks.”
Gilby says that’s when Lopes suffered burns that landed him in intensive care at a hospital in Sussex, New Brunswick, about a
20-minute drive from the campground.
“My sister suffered smoke inhalation and some burns on her leg and feet. My two nephews are fine, one sustained some very minor injuries.”
He says Charla, 41, took the family trailer to the East Coast in July and Lopes flew out last week to meet up with them.
Gilby learned what took place after he tried to contact Lopes about the greenhouse fire in St. Catharines on the weekend. “Dave’s dad lives near there.” But with Lopes cellphone destroyed in the fire and his sister’s cellphone with no charge, he wasn’t able to find out all the details until Sunday morning. His sister’s phone was left outside the trailer.
“We were having communication issues,” he says, adding he was able to speak with both his sister and brother-in-law.
He says Lopes, who many in Welland would know through his years working at Midas, was being assessed in the hospital for his burns and he wasn’t sure what arrangements were being made for the family’s return to Ontario or when that might take place.
According to a CBC report, Penobsquis and Sussex fire departments attended the scene. It also reported the cause of the fire as accidental and that the campground was taking up a collection for the family.