A fire that ripped through an elderly Surrey couple’s home early Monday morning could have ended much worse if not for the efforts of a Good Samaritan who was passing by.
Yvonne Bernardy-Dearden saw the home on 0 Avenue burning just before 6 a.m. The occupants were nowhere in sight, so she started banging on the door to make sure no one was inside.
“It was dead quiet,” Bernardy-Dearden said. “I didn’t even know if there were residents in the house but I was just kicking that door ferociously.”
As it turns out, the couple was in the home, and they were fast asleep. Bernardy-Dearden managed to wake them up and get them out of the house, though they were hesitant to stay away.
“They had gone back in the house so I said, ‘You have to get out – now.’” she said.
Firefighters said the blaze started in a garbage bin on the side of the house. Battalion Chief Ed Wells said when the vinyl side of the home caught fire, it spread quickly.
“It travelled up the side of the house and into the soffit area through that vinyl siding and got into the wood frame,” Wells said.
The home was damaged extensively and part of the roof collapsed. Fortunately, thanks to Bernardy-Dearden’s quick thinking, no one was hurt.
“There was some potential for something serious to happen here but everyone got out safe,” Wells said.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been confirmed but firefighters said it isn’t considered suspicious. Wells said the home is probably salvageable, but it will probably be months before the owners can move back.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim
