14-year-old woke family in time to escape Britannia fire that killed pets

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A 14-year-old boy “crawled on the floor” to reach his family and wake them in time to escape a Britannia house fire that killed three dogs and a cat early Tuesday morning.

Bruce Murangira said Tuesday that he and his fiancée, Mandy Haaima, were asleep when their 14-year-old son heard “the sound of smashing glass and then the fire alarm.”

He said the boy opened his bedroom door to reveal a “puff of smoke”, then crawled down the hall to Murangira’s bedroom to wake him and his fiancée.

The three escaped, but Murangira said their three male dogs and one cat were killed in the fire.

Ottawa Fire Services said a resident reported smoke visible on one side of 2700 Howe St. at 1:07 a.m.

When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke in the ground floor kitchen and attacked flames that had extended to the second-floor exterior and attic. The fire was under control at 1:52 a.m.

Paramedics took the three residents to the hospital but their injuries were not believed to be serious.

Fire services spokesperson Danielle Cardinal confirmed that two other dogs survived what an investigator called an “accidental kitchen fire.” A fourth member of the family had spent the night at a friend’s house.

Damage was estimated at $350,000.

Dave Stibbe, a 52-year-old teacher at Kanata Montessori School and Cedar Ridge High School, has lived two doors down for 12 years, was returning home from a mountain biking trip when his wife texted him, saying the neighbours’ house was on fire and that, “flames lit the whole backyard up.”

He pulled onto Howe Street around 1:30 a.m. to find firefighters, police and paramedics on the scene.

“It was a pretty crazy evening,” he said.

His two daughters, Jordyn, 9, and Jesse, 12, who were kept home from school Tuesday, said they watched as firefighters performed CPR on the dogs to try to resuscitate them.

Stibbe said firefighters worked as hard on the dogs as they would have people. “

That was really sad,” he said. Two of the dogs that died were merely puppies, according to Stibbe, between six and eight months old.

Stibbe said they are lucky to live so close to a fire station or the outcome could have been much worse.

He said the victims had been renting the home for less than two years. He described them as “pleasant” and “easy to get along with.”

Janet Brown, a Britannia Village resident, started a gofundme page to raise money for the victims. She has two dogs, herself, and said her “heart just broke a little” when she heard what happened. She hopes the fundraiser will help the family “start over.”

Neighbours belonging to the Facebook group, Friends of Britannia Village, also offered assistance.

Stibbe said he also plans to collect donations from his workplace.

Glenn van Gulik, director of public relations for the Salvation Army, said the family was contacted and the Salvation Army was working “identify their immediate needs” and would work closely with the city and the Red Cross to find “temporary lodging,” supply food, clothing, and furniture.

Between these services, van Gulik said, “We make sure the family is completely supported as they try to pick up the pieces of the disaster.”

With files from Megan Gillis

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