A Hilliers woman is lucky to be alive after she was rescued from a burning mobile home by her neighbours.

On Monday (Feb. 26) Stacy Duchscherer and his wife Kim Duchscherer stopped by to check on their home, which was being renovated, when he saw thick smoke coming from his neighbour鈥檚 residence.

At first he thought someone might be burning garbage in their backyard, but soon realized the smoke was coming from his elderly neighbour鈥檚 home.

鈥淢y wife ran to the front door and I went to the back porch and I climbed in, up the stairs and I looked in,鈥� said Duchscherer, who was glad he happened to be wearing his prosthetic leg that day, as he spends most of his time in a wheelchair. 鈥淵ou could hardly see there鈥檚 so much smoke. I yelled 鈥榟ello!鈥� and I didn鈥檛 hear anything. I walked further in, but you couldn鈥檛 see because it was black. There was smoke everywhere. I couldn鈥檛 breathe.鈥�

He yelled again and this time he heard a little voice call back to him. Duchscherer could make out a small figure walking through the smoke.

The woman, her face blackened by smoke, asked Duchscherer to help her put out the fire.

鈥淎nd I said, 鈥榥o, no we have to get out, you can鈥檛 go back in,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淪he started back in, to what I later learned was her bedroom, but you couldn鈥檛 see it was so black.鈥�

Duchscherer had to step back outside onto the porch to grab a deep breath. Holding his breath, he went back inside, unable to see past his nose because of the thick smoke.

He found his neighbour still attempting to put out the fire amid the confusion. Duchscherer put his arm around her and guided her out of the trailer, aided by the sound of his wife鈥檚 voice at the front door.

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Duchscherer checked the trailer to make sure no one else was inside. Worried about gas lines, he left, then called 911 and sat down with Kim and the neighbour.

鈥淗er face was burned, her hair was all singed,鈥� Duchscherer said.

One person was transported to hospital, according to Fire Chief Ron Schildroth, of the Coombs-Hilliers Volunteer Fire Department.

Duchscherer is just glad he was there to help and said he doesn鈥檛 think his neighbour would have survived more than a few minutes longer in the burning trailer.

鈥淚t was pure luck we were there at that time. And it鈥檚 weird because you always wonder what you would do,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even think, we just bolted. My wife went in the front and I went in the back.鈥�

He and his wife had stopped by on a whim to check out the home that day.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 even going to be there,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just at the last minute thought, 鈥榣et鈥檚 go to the house鈥�. Because it鈥檚 supposed to be finished this week.鈥�

The smoke inhalation gave both Duchscherer and his wife headaches, even the day after the fire, plus sore throats and tight chests.

He is concerned for his neighbours, who are both elderly and now have lost their home.

鈥淭heir lives are going to be in turmoil,鈥� Duchscherer wrote in a follow-up email to the PQB News. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 sad, because they are both in their later years, and are both unable to walk, lift or move things. Happiness for sure as they are both alive, but sad because they鈥檝e lost everything.鈥�

The fire department was paged out at approximately 10:45 a.m. and within the hour the fire was out and crews were clearing the scene, Schildroth added.

CHVFD was assisted by the Errington, Qualicum Beach, Dashwood and Parksville departments.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to Schildroth.