Mounties recall rescuing woman from smoke-filled home

Two RCMP officers are being credited with saving an unresponsive woman from a smoke-filled house in the Southey area.

In a media release Friday, the Mounties said the incident happened just before 5 a.m., in late November, after someone suggested they check on the wellbeing of a woman.

Constables Brandyn McCartney and Jacob Jungheim went to the woman’s house and saw lights on inside, but there wasn’t any response when they knocked on the door.

“Initially what was strange when we went to the residence was an ‘off’ smell, like burnt toast, but there was nothing emitting from the residence that would indicate a full-on blaze,” McCartney recalled in the release.

“Upon doing a walk around the residence to see if anyone was inside, we noticed an odd haze or fog. At first it seemed like dirty windows, but upon a closer look we realized it was a house full of floor-to-ceiling smoke.”

McCartney mentioned the smell to Jungheim, who also noticed it. That’s when they decided to enter the house — but the doors and windows were locked.

That’s when Jungheim found keys outside.

“I first banged on the doors and windows trying to get someone to answer, but I did not hear anyone inside,” he said. “I then tried the set of keys in the back door, but the keys did not match up with the lock. I then went around to the front and tried to unlock the front door with success.“

The officers called out, but no one responded. McCartney went inside, started a search, and found the woman in a bedroom.

“I didn’t see her at first,” McCartney said. “The female was hidden under a layer of blankets that obscured any human shape.

“I grabbed the blankets quickly and felt a leg, so I threw the blanket off and found her laying there. My initial thought at this point was that she was deceased, as I could barely breathe and I had only been in the residence for a moment. I shook her and was able to get a response.”

Jungheim heard McCartney say someone was in the house, so he also went inside to help get the woman out.

The charred microwave. (RCMP/Submitted)

She wasn’t dressed for the weather, so the officers took her to a nearby home for warmth. There, she was assessed by paramedics and found to be OK.

Jungheim was at the house when firefighters arrived. With the doors open, the smoke had dissipated and no fire was found. A search of the house found the source of the smoke — severely burnt food inside a microwave.

“This was the first call of this nature I’ve been to in my almost four years with the RCMP, but I’ve been to a number of calls now that, as a result of our actions, have definitely prevented death,” McCartney said. “It’s something that becomes fairly routine … then you get back to your next task.”