(Quebec) A woman was pulled from a house on fire by firefighters late Sunday evening in the borough of Beauport, in eastern Quebec, thanks to the prior good functioning of her smoke alarms.
In the middle of the night on Monday, the Quebec City Fire Protection Service reported that the victim was conscious when transported to hospital by paramedics. She received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted shortly before 11 p.m. by a person who called the 911 emergency center to report that there was a lot of smoke in his single-family home on rue des Maraîchers.
The first firefighters to arrive on the scene were greeted by people who told them a woman would be in an upstairs bedroom. Despite the presence of thick smoke, the sappers entered the house and located the lady in a bedroom before proceeding to evacuate her.
Shortly after, two other alarms were sounded so that additional personnel could be sent. About 50 firefighters worked to rescue and extinguish the fire which originated in the basement.
Firefighters say the home’s smoke alarms were on and without their presence, the resident may never have woken up to alert authorities.
The damage caused by the fire is considerable.
The fire department was on the scene and determined that the fire was probably not of arson origin.