Summerside police save family from burning home, including baby rescued from crib
Officer managed to enter the structure and save 1-year-old child from flames
Police officers were able to rescue a family of three that included a one-year-old child from a burning home in Summerside, P.E.I., early Tuesday morning.
In a news release, Summerside Police Services said its officers responded to a fire at a residence in the Linkletter Estates mobile home park just before 3 a.m.
The front of the home was engulfed in flames when police arrived, and officers couldn't get to the front door, the release said. So they went to the side door, where they could hear people inside yelling that they couldn't get the door open.
The officers were able to force the door open and help those people out.
After being told a one-year-old was still inside, an officer entered the home and found the child in a crib in one of the bedrooms.
The officer was able to bring the child out of the home safely, and Summerside firefighters arrived soon after to put out the blaze.
'Could've been a lot worse'
Ron Enman, Summerside's fire chief, said his department responded with six trucks and about 60 firefighters who were able to extinguish the flames in about 10 minutes.
"We had a large volume of water on it right off the get-go and… the way it was opened up on the trusses, we got a lot of water right in at the seat of the fire, so it went quick," Enman said.
"It could've been a lot worse. The back half of the property, it's really a lot of smoke damage and stuff, but the fire just went in the front of the [home], the living room and kitchen."
The police officer who went into the home and a member of the Summerside Fire Department were taken to Prince County Hospital for treatment of minor injuries and smoke inhalation. Both were later released.
Island EMS paramedics at the scene examined the family for injuries. Enman said the three occupants of the home are now staying with family members.
P.E.I.'s Fire Marshals Office is still investigating the cause of the fire.
With files from Taylor O'Brien