The drive from Coldwater to Warminster is usually an uneventful one, but it was anything but for Mark Jones on Sunday.
The off-duty Severn Township firefighter and his wife were heading home on Highway 12 shortly before 5 p.m. As they approached Oro-Medonte Line 12, they saw smoke.
“So, we turned up Line 12 just to check it out,” Jones told OrilliaMatters.
Nearing the house, Jones realized it was serious.
“I hopped out of the car, called 911, and my training just kind of kicked in. I started pounding on the door,” he recalled.
When no one answered, he went to the back of the house. In the sunroom, he saw another man who had stopped to help.
“I yelled at him to get out because the house was on fire. He said, ‘I need help. There’s a lady in there,’” Jones said.
The woman was unconscious on the sunroom floor.
“I took control and said, ‘Let’s get her out of here. We don’t have much time,’” he said. “We got her away from the house. Knowing she had some burns on her back, I started throwing snow on her back. I didn’t have any medical equipment with me.”
Jones has been a firefighter with Severn for 11 years, but Sunday was the first time he had to pull someone from a burning house.
“It was a little terrifying, being that close without my gear on,” he admitted. “After my adrenalin went down, it was pretty emotional.”
There were soon other passersby on scene, and Jones is thankful they were there to help.
“I was really grateful there were other people to help once we got her out of the house,” he said. “It was physically draining getting her out of the house.”
The woman, who was home alone at the time of the fire, was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. The fire is still under investigation.
Since his heroic act, Jones has been getting plenty of praise from friends and strangers. While he knows how important his actions were, he’s not fond of the spotlight.
“I’m not really an outgoing person. I like to keep to myself. So, it’s been a little overwhelming,” he said.
He would do it again if he had to, and he urges anyone else to do the same if they come across something similar.
“It never hurts just to drive by and take a peek,” he said. “You could be arriving at just the right time.”
