Courage/Bravery

Jesse Huffman was staying at the Salvation Army’s Evergreen House  in January when he extinguished a fire that could have devastated the homeless shelter. 

Huffman had just emerged from the shower when the incident took place. He recalled smelling smoke and investigating with a staff member. They found a mattress and blanket on fire in a bedroom, and the room was filling with smoke. An occupant of the room was present at the time. 

“There was fire all over the bed, and it was starting to catch on the top bunkbed,” Huffman said. “I just turned around, dropped my stuff, grabbed the fire extinguisher and emptied it on the bed.” 

Campbell River Fire Chief Thomas Doherty, who nominated Huffman, said there were 25 occupants in the shelter at the time of the fire. The fire nearly spread to the upper bunkbed, Doherty said.

“Had it not been for the quick action  and bravery by Jesse Huffman, the fire would have grown rapidly, putting the life and safety of not only the occupant in the room in danger, but all other occupants in the building at risk.”

Doherty added that the shelter would also have sustained “significant damage, displacing all occupants” for an extended period of time. 

When Janny Bird intervened in a dog attack in March 2017, she took control of a situation that could have turned out much worse.

Caroline Kennard and a friend were walking their leashed dogs when the incident took place. They noticed two loose dogs coming up the street. One of them approached and attacked Kennard’s dog, clenching its teeth on her dog’s hind legs. After a struggle, Kennard said, she was able to throw her pet over a hedge. Moments later, Kennard’s friend tried to protect her own small dog, holding it in her arms, as the much larger dog attacked. 

Janny Bird, who was at home nearby, heard screaming. She grabbed a leash hanging by the door 

and ran towards the noise. 

“I could tell what was going on,” said Bird, who is a dog trainer and a medical exercise specialist. 

She found the large dog on top of the woman, its jaws clenched on her arm and shaking her. 

Bird managed to restrain the attacking dog, which weighed perhaps 70-80 pounds, by wrapping the leash around its waist, lifting it off the ground and pulling it away from the woman. The dog turned and tried to attack Bird, but she was able to keep it at a distance and suspended from the ground. 

Bird told the other women to get away from the scene, and then alerted her neighbour, an off-duty policeman who happened to appear nearby. Police, ambulance and animal control soon arrived. “Without the quick, brave, smart action of Janny Bird, a terrible situation would have turned tragic,” Kennard said.