By Rhonda Massad
www.thesuburban.com
Const. Steve Demers and Const. Vincent Samuel Poirier Paillette were recognized at the Beaconsfield council meeting on Nov. 17, for acts of bravery during a call to a residence on fire on Oct. 7, at 103 Beacon Hill Road.
Station 1 Commander Richard Thouin spoke of the incident in detail prior to introducing the two officers who saved the life of a lady in distress during a fire in her two storey Beaconhill home.
According to Cmdr. Thouin, at 10 a.m. a nearby work crew called 911 after they heard cries of alarm and saw a man rush out of the house. Const. Demers and Const. Paillette were in close proximity and responded to the scene in under three minutes.
Upon arrival the officers made a plan for one officer to remain in the front doorway while the other entered the smoke filled house to find the adult son of the elderly couple who was in the basement of the home. Const. Demers reached for the basement door only to scald his hand.
“The lady had re-entered the home by the rear entrance to see if she could get to her son.” Thouin continued, “Const. Demers heard her cries for help and attempted to convince her to exit the building. After several attempts he grabbed her and forced her out tripping several times in the dark of the smoke. Const. Paillette relieved Const. Demers when he could no longer manage to breath and went in to carry the homeowner to safety.”
“When I read the incident report it read like any other ordinary report,” Thouin explained, “but when I reviewed it with the officers I found that it was far from ordinary.”
