Trio's bravery honored at Onion Lake Powwow

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Heroic courage and bravery were honored this year at the Onion Lake Pow Wow. Three band members received national recognition for rescuing three people from a burning building two years ago.

Roy Littlewolfe, Cecile Wolfe and Clinton Carter were presented with the Royal Canadian Humane Association bronze medal during the Grand Entry ceremonies on Sunday afternoon.

The medals, given to civilians or off-duty peace officers, recognize heroism in saving or attempting to save human life.

The presentation was made before a huge crowd by Onion Lake Chief Wallace Fox, March West Inspector Mike Bergerman and RCMP Sargent Oman Omar.

Chief Fox commended the men who had risked their own lives by repeatedly entering a burning house on the reserve and carrying out injured and unconscious members of the Carter family.

What started out as an ordinary workday on the morning of Oct. 7, 1997 for Littlewolfe, Wolfe and Carter, turned into a memory that stills haunts the three men, who still wonder if they could have done more?

Traveling back from a worksite in their gravel truck, Littlewolfe and Wolfe saw a woman stagger and fall beside an Onion Lake residence which had smoke billowing out of the front window. They drove to the house, jumped out and began to attempt a rescue. The house was a mass of smoke by then and all they could see was an open door and a man who came staggering out. He told them that there were three more people trapped in the house. Joined by Carter, the men ran in to the burning inferno to try and save them.

"Smoke was rushing through the doorway. It was all black, we couldn't see and couldn't breath. We started smashing windows and banging on doorjambs with our wrists. I kept tripping over things, the floor was like a sponge. You didn't know if you were walking into a flame or smoke. One minute felt like one hour. I got light headed, looked under the smoke and found a little girl, her hair singed, throwing up black stuff from her lungs," said Carter.

The men were forced get down and crawl on their knees under the smoke. Littlewolfe found the other little girl curled up in a blanket on the floor of a bedroom.

"My face was singed and my fingers were sticking together by then. The heat was so incredible that we could see the paint bubbling on the walls. The grandmother showed up and said that there was another person inside so we ran back in," said Littlewolfe.

"The water truck and fire truck had arrived and when we brought the grandfather out he was still breathing. A little while later, I was walking between the fire truck and water truck and I saw a body covered with white cloth. I thought it was the little girl so I knelt by it but then found out it was the grandfather," said Wolfe.

Tragically, one of the young girls and the grandfather died from smoke inhalation and injuries. Of the three trapped inside, only the first person saved, the other little girl, survived the disastrous house fire. It was later determined by officials that the fire was started by the careless handling of smoking materials.

"The RCMP detachment is very proud of these guys," said Sargent Oman during the medal presentation. "It shows that they are very decent members of this community, risking their own lives to help save someone else."

"Receiving the recognition and medal felt good, but there's always that 'what if' that runs through your mind," added Littlewolfe.