Stittsville family recounts barefoot escape from devastating fire
Stittsville family recounts barefoot escape from devastating fire
A charred exterior and a boarded up garage is what remains of Jennifer Enberg’s home after it went up in flames early Saturday morning.
“What woke me up was my son coming into our room saying, ‘Fire, get out,’” she said. “So myself, my one son and his girlfriend and my husband ran out the back door and my other son ran out the front.”
The family lives on Kittiwake Drive in Stittsville. Most of the family escaped into the back yard barefoot and in pyjamas but they were trapped, as piles of snow blocked their only way out.
“The firefighters busted down the gate and got us to the fire truck,” said Enberg.
Ottawa Fire Services reported the fire just before 5:30 a.m. and said a second alarm was called because of the cold. Temperatures had plunged below -30 C.
Occupants escaped barefoot into the backyard, but could not make it to the front due to the 🔥. Firefighters were able to get them safely out of the backyard & put them into one of our trucks. Firefighters immediately began treating them for frostbite on their feet. #OttNews
The family was treated for frostbite and smoke inhalation while Enberg's husband Mike suffered minor burns on his left hand.
“We grew up in that house, raised a family in that house. All the memories... It’s gone,” he said.
OFS spokesperson Nick DeFazio told CTV News Ottawa that several pets, including a frog, a lizard, a gecko, and a bird, were rescued from the home.
The fire at the Enbergs' home was one of six fires that Ottawa firefighters battled on Saturday as extreme cold gripped the capital. Crews responded to three fires overnight, a fourth later in the morning, and two more during the day.
Ottawa Fire Services's Gwen Lewis said the six fires Saturday were all over the city.
She adds that families should be ready in case a fire does break out.
“We can do our best to prevent fires and, if a fire was to happen, that’s when your working smoke alarm comes into play and your home escape plan,” said Lewis.
Meanwhile, the Enbergs are trying to pick up the pieces, anticipating it will take some time before they can assess the damage. The frigid temperatures caused a buildup of ice throughout the structure.
“We were in there 21 years. That was our home,” Jennifer Enberg said. “Hoping for it to warm a little bit and hopefully we can get in.”
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A scientist at CAMH says video games have similar addictive features to gambling which cause social isolation of the individual and dependency on the activity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
The federal Liberals are trending downward on three key measures while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to the question of who Canadians would prefer now as their prime minister, according to Nanos Research.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
U.S. authorities are investigating a group of people swimming toward a pod of spinner dolphins off Hawaii's Big Island. The department alleges that the swimmers were 'harassing the pod' as the dolphins were swimming away.
Two-and-a-half years after it was established, Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission has recommended sweeping changes to everything from gun control to mental health services, although there’s no guarantee any will ever be implemented.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
Just a week after Airbnb tightened regulations for Quebec listings following a deadly fire, hosts may already be bending the rules. Airbnb now requires its hosts to provide a six-digit policy number with their listing, obtained when a tourist lodging is registered with the provincial government. But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
It's been two weeks since a major fire ripped through a heritage building in the heart of Old Montreal, killing seven people and forever altering the lives of families across the globe. For the families of those who died, the grieving process is only starting.
There are exciting plans for Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Sudbury. Built in 1927, the former church was sold after its congregation dwindled and will be transformed into a concert hall.
When the store manager at La Noisette Bakery arrived Thursday morning to open the small shop on Oxford Street, she discovered that one of the two large circular windows at the side of their building was shattered.
A judge has acquitted a now-retired priest of forcing himself on a residential school student more than 50 years ago, saying she believes an assault happened but could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt who did it.
A bylaw officer in Manitoba is facing fraud charges for allegedly keeping the surrender fees when people gave up their pets, according to the Brandon Police Service.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A Saskatoon murder trial is being adjourned to allow police to follow-up on "significant information" that just came to the Crown prosecutor's attention Wednesday.
A community-focused historian has found several potential ancient artifacts along the Saskatchewan River, including a bison bone that is over 8,000 years old.
A 2021 plane crash at the Westlock Airport was caused by an "unstable visual approach" to the landing runway, a Transportation Safety Board investigator has found.
A 15-year-old girl shot to death in the community of Martindale early Tuesday morning, has now been identified by friends and police as Sarah Alexis Jorquera.
