Fort McMurray climber scales building to help put out balcony fire

A Fort McMurray man's climbing skills helped save the day, when a fire broke out on the third-floor balcony of an apartment building on Canada Day. 

Neal Barry said he was driving when he noticed a fire in an apartment building in the Gregoire neighbourhood of Fort McMurray. 

He pulled over, noticing some commotion in the area. 

Barry said he spoke to a woman near the building and could see the third-floor balcony was on fire. 

"We didn't hear any alarms. We didn't hear any way for people to be alerted in the building," he said. 

"So, myself and her ran around the building and tried to find a way to to let people know. We knocked on windows, tried to get to the front door. We tried to find the fire extinguisher." 

Soon after he retrieved a fire extinguisher from a resident on the second floor. Then, he hatched his plan. 

"I suggested climbing up and they can throw me the extinguisher and I could try to put the the fire out," Barry said. 

Barry has been a climber since he was 11, and his passion persisted into adulthood. He now co-owns a bouldering gym in Fort McMurray. 

"I felt confident enough that I could do it safely for myself and the minor risk that I'd be taking could have potentially helped a lot more in other regards." 

He successfully climbed onto the third-floor balcony, which was covered in "some flames," he said. 

"I committed to the fact that there was a potential that I could get burned. So I tried to climb up as quickly as possible and jump over." 

As he climbed on the balcony, the person who lived in the apartment came out and realized what was happening. He assisted Barry in putting out the fire out with buckets of water. 

When the emergency services finally arrived, the flames were completely doused.  

In a news release, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said the fire was caused by "improperly extinguished smoking material."

The news release confirmed that multiple 911 calls came in just before 4:30 p.m. on July 1 about an apartment fire, and that a bystander had scaled the building and helped put out the fire. 

Barry did sustain a minor burn on his arm. No other injuries were reported, the RMWB said.  

Acting fire chief Rob Van Hecke said in a statement to CBC News that Barry's actions are appreciated, but the fire service doesn't encourage people to take firefighting into their own hands.  

"The safest and most effective way to help is to call 911 and allow our highly trained responders to manage these situations safely and efficiently," he added.