Springwater Teenager to receive Fire Safety Action Award

TORONTO, June 4, 2013 /CNW/ - Amanda Wilkins will receive a Fire Safety Action Award on June 12 in Toronto.  The annual Fire Safety Awards ceremony, hosted by the Fire Marshal's Public Fire Safety Council, recognizes outstanding contributions to fire protection and prevention in Ontario.

Late one evening of March this year, 16-year-old Wilkins was at home in Springwater when she was alerted to a fire by the smoke alarm. Wilkins immediately sprang into action. She screamed to alert her father to the fire, who had not heard the alarm. Her father safely escaped the home.

However, since Wilkins was in a new addition to the house, she found that she could not get out the same way her father had due to the fire. Following what her father had taught her about fire safety, Wilkins pushed out the bedroom window.  She exited onto the roof and jumped onto the snowy ground below, breaking her foot in the process.

Despite her injured foot, Amanda located her father in the front yard of their home. He was having difficulty breathing through the smoke.  She wrapped him in a blanket, helped him into his truck and drove the truck down the driveway a safe distance away from the house.

The house was a total loss and the family's beloved dog, Bear, perished in the fire.

"Knowledge can be the key to surviving a potentially deadly fire situation," said Ted Wieclawek, Ontario Fire Marshal.  "Without Amanda's quick actions and good judgement, her father may have slept through the alarm and perished in the fire."

Fire Safety Action Awards are awarded to young children and teenagers who have actively demonstrated fire safety behaviours they have learned.  The Fire Marshal's Public Fire Safety Council gratefully acknowledges the support of its sponsors in this event: Technical Standards and Safety Authority, The Co-operators Group, Kidde Canada Inc., Home Depot of Canada Inc., Proctor & Gamble Inc., Electrical Safety Authority, CSA Group, Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc., Roxul Inc. and Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada.

SOURCE: Fire Marshal's Public Fire Safety Council

Carol Gravelle, Office of the Fire Marshal, 416-325-3138