‘We had to do something’: Saskatoon teens rescue 89-year-old man from burning home

A group of Saskatoon teens speak out after rescuing an 89-year-old man from a burning home Wednesday night. Keenan Sorokan reports.

It’s a late-night drive four friends won’t ever forget.

Ella Lucas, Amber Harper, Kaycee Penrod and Kaleigh Folk were driving home Wednesday night when Penrod saw flames coming from a home on Smith Crescent at 12:45 a.m.

The group of 19-year-old girls quickly turned down the street and went into action. One of the girls called 911, two ran toward the house and the other waited for first responders.

“Me and Amber ran right out of the car as soon as we could, and we ran straight to the house, straight to the neighbours to knock on the doors,” Lucas said. “Get everyone out.”

After banging the door and ringing the doorbell, the 89-year-old homeowner answered the door, wondering what all the noise was about.

Lucas said he happened to be awake to take some medication, unaware the upper level of his home was on fire.

“We were right down there as soon as he came downstairs, which was very crazy timing,” she said. “We couldn’t imagine if he was asleep at that time.”

After getting the man outside and away from the home, the elderly man feared he’d lose his home and all of his possessions.

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Lucas said he started talking about sentimental items in the attic, which was already on fire — but Lucas felt she could still help.

“He had said that he had lost so many family members that had belongings in there, and so I felt it was my duty to run in and grab as much as I could, because I knew I still had time,” she said.

Lucas ran inside and ran back a short while later with an armful of family photos, a blanket, a pair of shoes, and some medication.

Two minutes later, she was looking at the house and realized the car in the driveway might catch on fire and continue the fire’s spread, so she went back inside, grabbed the keys and moved the car down the block.

Harper said running into a burning building twice is just the kind of person Lucas is.

“She is always the one to just go for it,” Harper said. “It wasn’t even a hesitation.”

None of the girls had ever been in an emergency situation like this before, but now they’re able to reflect on the poise and calm way they handled it.

“It’s a very surreal moment that we never thought we would have, but we are just very thankful that we had each other,” Harper said.

The Saskatoon Fire Department is working to find the cause, origin and to calculate a damage estimate.

All four girls got to spend time with homeowner on Friday and learn more about him. They said once he’s settled, they plan to stay in regular contact with him and keep him company.

After coordinating a rescue effort before first responders arrived, the group of friends are thankful they happened to be driving by at that exact moment and fear what would have happened if they had driven by a minute or two later.

“I don’t think any of us second guessed what we were supposed to do. I think we all just kind of jumped right into action. We knew that there was nobody else out here and nobody saw what was going on, so we had to do something,” Lucas said.

Since Thursday’s early morning fire, they have been celebrated by their families while being called heroes by others.

But they certainly don’t see it that way.

“Reflecting on it, it’s unreal that we were able to do that. Right timing for sure, just putting us in that place at the right time,” Harper said.