Brave nine-year-old saves family from house fire

CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. — Nine-year-old Parker Johnsen, saved his family from a house fire in Charlie Lake, early on May 13th.

Hailey Romine, Parker’s mother, said the house was fine when her fiance, MJ, left for work around a quarter after five in the morning. Romine, Parker, and Romine’s daughter were still asleep.

“My son Parker awoke because he heard glass cracking and breaking and fire sounds,” Romine explained.

“He walked out of his room into the living room and saw a fire up the side of our house from our deck, and it was breaking the living room windows, and the fire and sparks were shooting into the living room.”

Parker then ran into Romine’s room, yelling that the house was on fire, and her initial thought was that the forest fires had reached her home overnight.

At that point, the fire was just making its way into the house, so they didn’t have time to grab anything.

“We just exited the house as quick as we could and got into our vehicle,” Romine said.

Her first call was to her fiance, MJ, to let him know before contacting 911.

MJ called a couple of neighbours for assistance, and one helped Romine get hooked up to the holiday trailer to pull it away from the house.

Another neighbour showed up with his water truck and sprayed the house before the Charlie Lake Fire Department arrived.

Once they arrived, Romine guessed it took firefighters approximately three hours to extinguish the fire.

The firefighters recognized Parker’s bravery and fire safety skills while on the scene.

Romine attributes his knowledge to local firefighters visiting the school every year to provide some training on fire safety.

“Unfortunately, it is a total loss of a house. The fire had gone up into the roof, and then the roof collapsed on the whole house,” Romine said.

A GoFundMe, started by her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Cara McCabe, is over $15,000. 

McCabe also held a popsicle fundraiser at Charlie Lake School, raising over $1,400.

“A couple of the classes at the school and members of the community have donated money directly to us, gift cards, new clothes, dvds and so many other items,” Romine said.

She said members of the Charlie Lake Kidz Sportz also donated all new sports equipment to the kids.

“People have been overwhelmingly generous; it is so nice,” said Romine.

For the most part, the family isn’t looking for any more donations at this time and is currently waiting for insurance to determine the next steps.