Two Good Samaritans are being hailed as heroes after rescuing several people from a fire that broke out in a Calgary strip mall over the weekend.
Flames burst through the roof of the Urban Square strip mall on Macleod Trail just before 1 p.m. on Saturday. Staff and a client from the nearby Calgary Dream Centre, an organization that helps people affected by homelessness and addiction, saw the flames through their window. Mackie Martineau, who is a counsellor at the centre, sprang into action.
“Grabbed our fire extinguisher, ran over there, went up the stairs. By then, the fire was already pretty much going pretty good,” Martineau told CTV Calgary.
But the fire extinguisher alone wasn’t enough to fight the rapidly growing blaze. “So I started ripping doors open and telling people to get the hell out,” Martineau said.
As the flames and smoke grew, Martineau was joined by his client, Kaden Clouston.
“I couldn’t see through the smoke, (so I was) yelling ‘whoever’s in there, get out of there as soon as you can,’” Clouston told CTV Calgary. “I was about to go down the stairs and then I realized there was a second floor.
“I knew I had to run up there, because I just had a feeling someone was up there.”
Clouston was right. Tattoo artist Anthony Tex and his client were both on the second floor and unaware that the building was burning. Once Tex got downstairs, he said he was so close to the flames they were “singeing my arm hairs.
“It was crazy,” Tex added. After rescuing others, Martineau and Clouston became trapped by the fire and had to jump off the balcony to safety.
District Fire Chief Wayne McQueen told reporters afterward that the fire could have been deadly and that Martineau and Clouston’s quick thinking saved lives.
McQueen said the pair were “heroes” because they went door to door, getting people “who had no idea the roof was on fire” out of the building.
However, the men were humble about their life-saving efforts.
Clouston said he just did “what any decent human being would do if they were given the opportunity.”
Martineau echoed that sentiment: ‘I just did what anybody should do.”
Once fire crews got to the scene, they were able to knock down the fire quickly, however, the area remained closed for several hours while firefighters extinguished hotspots on the premises.
Nine people were medically assessed at the scene but no serious injuries were reported.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.
With a report by CTV Calgary’s Kevin Green
