Alan H. Mackie

Despite being instructed by a 911 operator to stay outside his next-door neighbor’s burning bungalow on March 2, 2023, Alan H. Mackie, a 63-year-old mechanic from Grand Valley, Ontario, knew his 69-year-old neighbor had limited mobility and worried he needed help leaving his home. Mackie kicked open the front door and entered the house despite dense smoke that limited visibility and flames that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Crouched over under the smoke, Mackie called out for the man and walked toward his faint responses. He reached the man’s bedroom at a point about 25 feet inside and saw him standing at the foot of his bed. Mackie retrieved a walker from the living room and returned to the bedroom, where he turned the man to face away from the walker and sat him on the walker’s seat. Mackie grasped the metal bars of the walker and backed to the front door pulling the walker with him. As Mackie exited the house, he came within a couple feet of flames. The man was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation. Mackie was not injured.