A Thompson, Man. family made a dramatic escape after a fire broke out in their home Thursday.
RCMP said everything inside the home on Ash Street was destroyed and all people inside got out before officers arrived, shortly before midnight.
Homeowner Robyn Shlachetka, who works as a medivac pilot, told CTV News she was out of town when her alarm company called to tell her a fire had broken out, and she quickly got in touch with her partner at home.
“He doesn’t even remember talking to me, but I called him and all he was doing was screaming,” she said.
The same residence was the scene of a violent home invasion in March, when Shlachetka’s dog was killed.
“It’s been a really awful month, to be completely honest,” she said. Two other pets, a puppy and a cat, are missing following the fire.
“When the incident happened last month, I was on my first day at work, so I didn’t really have time to do anything, so on my last day at work I was jumping a flight home and had a bit of a panic attack thinking about not having my dog, so I went and got a puppy and that puppy is the one we can’t find.”
Three people have minor injuries following the fire.
“When the fire broke out, Kevin was in the basement, my five-year-old was upstairs, so he ran upstairs and grabbed her but when he brought her down he had to run through the fire, so she has burns on both her hands, smoke inhalation and her hair was singed pretty good,” noting her partner Kevin was treated for smoke inhalation, along with another man at the home who also burned his hand trying to open a door.
Shlachetka’s older daughter and stepson escaped without injuries.
Security measures taken after home invasion may have slowed escape
Shlachetka said she’s grateful to have had a full alarm system installed, as it alerted people of the fire in time for them to get out. But other security measures may have worked against them.
“We reinforced our home so that people can’t get in because of the incident last month,” she explained. “But it’s that fine line of making it too inaccessible, because I think that’s what ended up taking so long to get out of the house, because we had extra deadbolts on the door.
“We didn’t get a chance yet to install bars on the basement windows, and I’m really glad we didn’t, because that’s how most of them got out of the house to begin with.”
RCMP told CTV News the fire doesn’t appear to be suspicious, and Shlachetka firefighters told her it’s possible it started near a baseboard heater that had a mattress pushed too close against it.
The Mounties said no damage estimate is available, and Shlachetka said the house was insured.
She also said she is 15 weeks pregnant, and planning to take a maternity leave motivated her to pay down a lot of debt recently so she can rely on credit until insurance kicks in. She also said people in the community have helped with clothes for the kids.
“I know it’s going to be fine,” she said. “I know the kids are going to be fine. I feel awful for our pets that got stranded in the house, especially horrible for not being there again. But, I’m hoping we can kind of hold it together, and it will be a long process too, to get established and get a new house.”
