It was the middle of the night and the Pettitt family was deep sleeping when a loud banging on the door and screams coming from the outside woke them up.
"Around 3:30 in the morning our neighbour came pounding on our door and ringing our doorbell. When we opened the door, he said, 'You have a fire out back of your house,'" Mark Pettitt recalled.
On Oct. 25, the fire that started in a greenhouse, attached to the main house, posed a serious threat not only to Pettitt's estate but also to their wellbeing and even lives. It could have ended up much worse if not for the neighbour's fast reaction and also his dog, which was the one to wake the owner up in the middle of the night by barking.
"I just thought it was someone coming by us for whatever reason, who knows, maybe their car didn't work or something. And then he was yelling, 'Fire, fire, there is a fire out back.'
"You go into a little bit of a shock and then adrenaline rush. There are things that I can't remember, what I said or what I did, but there are also things that I remember very clearly like how big the fire was and the fact that we needed to get everybody out safe."
When Pettitt went outside, half of the greenhouse was already fully engulfed in flames, glass was all shattered and the fire was moving fast towards the house. There were three of them in the house at the time, and they all made it out safely.
They called 911 immediately. However, it was the neighbour's call that was made some five minutes earlier that helped save the home.
"That early warning basically saved our house, because the fire crews were able to get the fire under control before it got a grip on the house. Because when it came onto the house, they were already there and were able to quickly extinguish it," Pettitt recalled.
Firefighters working at the scene said that if the call would have come three to five minutes later, the fire would spread over the rooms, and chances are the entire house would have been lost.
"We are very thankful to the neighbour and his dog that woke him up," Pettitt said.
"Estevan police also provided support out front of the house, because we were gathering a few things like a pair of boots and jackets and stuff, and they made sure that we were not in any harm’s way and they contacted the Red Cross to put us out for the night and made sure that we were secure.
"We can't say enough good things about our fire department and our police. Our emergency services in Estevan are fantastic and they put their lives at risk when they go to work every day. And we are grateful and thankful to that crew of men and women."
Fast and professional actions by the Estevan Fire Rescue Service members kept the damage to a minimum.
"I think we have probably the best fire crew around. It's been demonstrated by the many calls they've done, and people, houses and businesses they saved."
While the house was saved, it still was very nerve-wracking to watch firefighters battling the flames.
"The fire was heading from the greenhouse towards the house. We could watch it and made sure that when it got into the house we were outside already and far away. We were asked to get into our vehicle and move our vehicle away from the house and sit there."
The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing. The Pettitt family spent the first few days in a local hotel, and now they moved to a condo where they will be living for the next several months while their house is being cleaned up and fixed.
"It's been a wild few days, that's for sure," Pettitt said.
He also noted that he's been on the board of the United Way Estevan for over 20 years, raising money for their member agencies, and they often say that one way or another every person in the community is connected to their member agencies. This time, the Red Cross, one of the organizations the United Way supports, was helping their family as they provided emergency shelter for the first 72 hours and covered the food and any essential clothes one might need. Pettitt thanked the local Red Cross volunteers who were working with their family.
"Life happens to all of us in different ways, and this happened to us that night, and we are very thankful that we all got out, it was the main thing. And now it's back to getting our work lives re-established and our living space re-established," Pettitt said.
"One thing that I took home out of this whole experience is, we have a (fire) alarm system and then we also have extra smoke detectors, and they did go off, but they didn't go off until the fire actually got into the house. When we move back in, we are going to make sure we have a smoke detector connected to our central service in our attached garage ... It just gives the family a little bit of extra warning."
Pettitt also said that they received a lot of support and help from the community.
"Every little call and every little word, whether it be through text or Facebook post or whatever just means the world, because I truly believe that's why my family loves Estevan so much is the caring community that we have and the ability to have support when you need it."
While they are not sure what they may need to make it through the next few months, homemade food is something that they really appreciate through these trying times. Pettitt added that both private people and the local restaurants have been amazing, treating them with various meals throughout these days.
"We truly appreciate the help that we've received," Pettitt said.
