SASKATOON — It was just a normal Sunday morning, July 24, for the Hozacks with Mitch driving his son Jaxon to a baseball game. They, however, had a short pitstop after seeing a house on fire in the 3400 block of 33rd Street West.
Mitch saw smoke as the house’s deck was on fire and immediately pulled over to check if there were any people inside. He also instructed Jaxon to call 911, who was already on the phone informing dispatch about the house fire.
Without any hesitation and despite the deck of the structure already on fire, he ran towards the house and started banging on the door and window just to get the attention of the homeowners while Jaxon talked to the 911 dispatcher to give more information.
“We saw the fire at the start and my first impulse was to stop to make sure that people in the house knew that it was on fire. If we drove by 30 seconds later it would have already been on fire and probably we would have just called 911 and kept driving,” Mitch told SASKTODAY.
“We would have assumed they [homeowners] already knew that it [their house] was on fire because it was just only starting when we passed by. But it quickly became a big fire. We did what anyone would do.”
The Hozacks, for their action, were presented Honorary Testimonial Certificates by Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Russell Mirastry on behalf of the provincial division of the Royal Canadian Humane Association. The presentations were made last week at TCU Place.
Mitch said all the people in both houses were asleep when they pulled over and he managed to wake them up. Everyone inside the burning structure got out safely and no civilians or responding Saskatoon Fire Department crews were reported injured.
Jaxon was already talking to a 911 emergency dispatcher even before his dad told him to do so and he waited in their truck to relay more information as Mitch ran towards the burning house to try to warn the homeowners.
The fire had fully engulfed one of the structures causing the flames to spread to adjacent houses on both sides. The fire, which cost an estimated $325,000 in damages, was declared under control at 9:38 a.m.
Despite the unexpected stop, Jaxon still managed to make it to his baseball game. He said he was honoured to share the recognition with his dad.
“It was still surreal … I was just doing what any person would do seeing a house on fire,” said a shy Jaxon.
