20-year-old warns neighbour, helps extinguish fire at condo

Mac Findlay didn’t wait.

While the 20-year-old didn’t drag someone from a burning building, Findlay may have saved his neighbours and their home with some quick-on-his-feet thinking.

During his daily walk around his condo complex on June 29, Findlay noticed a fire out of the corner of his eye. He almost ignored it, thinking it looked like a bonfire, but then took a closer look.

“It was actually a wall (of a condo) on fire next to a barbecue,” Findlay said. “I was shocked because I walk around our neighbourhood a lot and I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Findlay ran straight for his neighbour’s front door and started ringing the doorbell to alert her to the flames in her yard.

“We ran to the backyard,” he said. “Very quickly, she grabbed a garden hose and told me to spray the wall as the fire had spread into the insulation.”

While Findlay kept the hose trained on the flames, his neighbour dialled 911.

Regina Fire and Protective Services (RFPS) responded within a few moments. By that point, Findlay says the fire had been extinguished.

“Luckily, it ended in a way that was safe,” Findlay said. “We were able to act very quickly.”

Findlay said RFPS commended him for his quick reactionary thinking.

“I’m grateful that it was a team effort between myself, the homeowner and the firefighters who responded greatly,” Findlay said.

Findlay said it was his natural reaction to come to his neighbour’s aid under the circumstances.

“From there, it was just trying to act in the moment as best as we knew how to do, I suppose,” he said.

“I knew if I didn’t act on it, the fire was going to spread.”

To celebrate Findlay’s quick thinking, RFPS and Quincy Greene Condos hosted a neighbour’s barbecue for Findlay and his community earlier this week.

On July 7, RFPS and Quincy Greene Condos recognized Mac for his quick action when a neighbour's bbq & siding caught fire on June 29. Mac saw the fire, alerted the resident (who called 911) & safely extinguished most of it with a garden hose before firefighters arrived. pic.twitter.com/aFcIzCcLvG

— Regina Fire (@Regina_Fire) July 8, 2020

“They were very nice and I’m super grateful,” Findlay said. “It was so kind of them.

“I didn’t expect to get as much recognition as I did, however, I greatly appreciate it. I didn’t know that lots of our neighbours were going to come out the other night … celebrating the safety of the incident.”

Findlay called it a special event to have all his neighbours and local firefighters out to share in the celebrations.

“It was truly a special moment for us and my family.”

Findlay is currently taking a gap year and participating in local activism work before starting university classes. He said this experience has given him a much greater appreciation for the work done by RFPS.

“(Being a firefighter) is something I would honestly consider,” Findlay said. “They made a very good example of what firefighters can do.”