Jamie Chowen was driving down Main Street in Mount Stewart when fire and smoke began pouring out of one of the oldest houses in the town. He slammed on his brakes, jumped out of his car and at the same time started dialing 911.
“There were flames at the windows so I ran to the house and the woman was inside and I knew I had to get her out of the house because she was trying to find her cats (firefighters later found the two cats deceased) so I basically roared at her and took her by the hand and got her out of the house and within seconds the whole outside of the house was completely engulfed.”
He said the smoke and flames were coming out of the kitchen area and, within minutes, the whole upstairs was involved and it was coming out of the roof.
When Chowen got the woman outside she sat down in front of the house and he knew he had to get her across the street and to safety. It was then he noticed her hair was singed and she was burned on her face and arms. Island EMS transported her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Police at the scene and firefighters did not know her condition, but it was not believed serious.
Chowen said that when he was getting the woman out everything “was crazy…it (smoke) was coming out the door and the flames were coming out the windows.” He said the entire rescue effort lasted about three minutes.
At the suggestion that he saved the woman’s life and is a hero, Chowen hesitates and then says, “I don’t want to say I am a hero or anything…it just happens I guess.”
The Mount Stewart fire department was assisted in fighting the fire by East River and Morell fire departments.
The house is owned by George Mardini and he and his wife have been living in it for about one year as they carried out some renovations. He said that he had no idea his house was burning until he got home from work at approximately 5:30 p.m. He said it was just he and his wife, whom he declined to identify “because she is a very private person,” living in the house with their two cats that he called their extended family.
Chowen knows all too well the feeling of losing a home and possessions as his home in Cherry Hill was destroyed by fire in May of last year. It has since been rebuilt on the same piece of land across the road from his parents’ farm, but he said it took he and his family a long time to recover.
A statement issued later Tuesday by the Candian Red Cross says the woman from the home required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation and slight burns. She remained in hospital Tuesday evening. The couple expect to stay with relatives once she was discharged.
"Disaster volunteers with the Canadian Red Cross arranged emergency purchases of clothing, food and personal-care items," said the statement.
"It was the second fire in two days where Red Cross volunteers in P.E.I. helped those affected with emergency needs like clothing and food," it said. "They provided similar help Monday to four of 12 people forced out by fire late Sunday in a five-unit apartment building on South Drive in Summerside."
The Mount Stewart fire department was assisted by East River and Morell fire departments.
