Saskatoon man awarded for rescuing family from house fire

A Saskatoon man has been awarded for saving the lives of four people and two animals from a house fire.

Joe Madden was given the Award of Merit by the Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) on Friday for his efforts.

Madden said he was working the late shift as a commissionaire on Nov. 28, 2022. During his shift, he stopped at a convenience store and then noticed fire coming from the back of a home.

“I saw the back of the house on fire, and just immediately stopped the car and phoned 9-1-1.”

He said he knew he needed to act fast to save those inside the home.

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“I could feel the flames and I knew the gas meter was right there, so I knew time was a factor in this as well.”

Madden said he banged on the doors, waking up four people who were able to get themselves, a cat and a bird to safety.

“We never encourage people to go into a burning building,” Fire Chief Morgan Hackl said. “We always encourage people to initiate the process for emergency services, fire, to go to the scene. In instances like this, it’s evident that he likely saved four people's lives.”

Madden said it was his experience and training as a commissionaire that helped him know what to do.

“As I say to our trainees, our job is 98 per cent pure boredom and two per cent sheer terror, that was one of those moments when it was like, ‘Whoa,’” he said.

“The important piece is to act quickly and to act safely. That’s exactly what he did,” Hackl said.

SFD said there were no injuries and the house fire was deemed an accident.  

With files from John Flatters