WINNIPEG -- When an off-duty RCMP officer came across a house fire in rural Manitoba, he jumped into action, pulling a man from the burning home.
RCMP said on Thursday around 4 p.m. Cpl. Mike Martens, a Steinbach RCMP officer was off-duty and driving in the R.M. of Hanover, Man.
Martens told CTV News he was doing some errands and trying to avoid the traffic in Steinbach when he noticed smoke coming from a mobile home on Clearspring Road.
“I looked over and there was flames coming out of a window. There were no other vehicles around, so I decided I better go take a look,” said Martens.
Another vehicle parked on the road had called 9-1-1.
Martens said as he approached the house, smoke was billowing from the windows. That was when he saw something move on the porch.
“There's a lot of smoke coming out of that window so it made it difficult to see inside that porch. I could only see that there was somebody there,” Martens said.
A man, who looked to be in his pajamas, was sitting on the floor of the porch, leaning against the door.
“I was helping him up and we kind of staggered there, but he seemed very disoriented,” Martens said. “We just got out of there as quick as we could.”
RCMP said the two men got out just before the house was completely engulfed in flames.
The 40-year-old man pulled from the fire was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. RCMP said no one else was in the residence.
“I don't know why, I just remained calm. I just felt very weird looking back,” said Martens. “I don't feel that this is a big deal. It's something that I felt pretty much anybody that passed by would have done.”
The Office of the Fire Commissioner and the RCMP are investigating the fire.
