3 families displaced by Port McNeill fire, man credited with alerting people remains in hospital

A B.C. woman is grateful the emergency department was open in Port McNeill when her brother needed it most — as, she says, he suffered burns in a house fire that displaced three families the day before Christmas.

“Thank goodness the emergency department was opened. We know that that’s not always the case,” says Kathy Powelson. “It had crossed my mind quite frequently that day that had the emergency department been closed, we might be having a different conversation today.”

At around 4:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Powelson says her 56-year-old brother, Rick, woke up the other families who lived in the home to alert them of the fire. She says, she was told he tried to put it out with a garden hose while awaiting firefighters – and eventually collapsed when he was being seen by paramedics in an ambulance on scene.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Rick would’ve done something like that,” says Powelson about her brother’s response to the fire. “And I think, you know, his actions saved lives and I think that will help him on his healing journey.”

Port McNeill Fire Rescue says it was dispatched to Brockington Place and “quickly” contained the fire to a section of the first floor. The department’s chief says three families have been displaced and the cause of the fire is undetermined.

Powelson says her brother lost everything in his unit and she’s started a GoFundMe to help him get back on his feet.

The Maple Ridge woman says Rick was flown to Victoria where he remains in intensive care at Royal Jubilee Hospital with second degree burns to his upper body and esophagus.

“My hope is that my brother as he recovers, he knows there’s an entire town that’s wrapped around him and supporting him and rooting for him to get better,” she says. “That there are families that are grateful to him for getting them out of the fire.”