'I heard a little girl screaming for help': Hydro-Qubec workers rescue family from house fire

Don't call Mario Mnarda hero.

He'll insist he and his co-worker were simply in the right place, at the right time, when they saved a Hudson, Que., family from a house fire.

Mnard and Guy Desgagn, who both work for Hydro-Qubec, were driving on the off-islandMontreal suburb's main drag earlyWednesday morning, clearing branches off power lines after a day of freezing rain, when they saw an orange glow between some trees.

As they drove towardthe light, Mnard said he could hear cries for help through the rolled-down window of his truck.

"I heard a little girl screaming," he said. "'Help us! Help us! We're going to die!'"

That's when they spotted a family home ablaze.

They rushed towardthe building on foot and saw a motherand her two daughters hanging out of a second-floor window.

The two knew the family only had seconds to get out of the building as the fire was spreading and positioned themselves under the window.

"I said, 'Jump! Jump! We're going to catch you!'" Mnard recalled.

The two young girls, aged eightand 10, leapt from the building and were caught by the workers.

Desgagn brought them away from the building and to the safety of their work truck.

Mnard said the mother then jumped. He tried to catch her but she still fell to the ground and hurt her back.

With the help of someone else, Mnard pulled the woman away from the growing fire and intense heat.

Firefighters arrived minutes later.

According to Daniel Leblanc, assistant chief for the Hudson fire department, the flames had engulfed the majority of the house when they arrived at scene.

He does not believe they would have been able to save the family.

"It's unreal," said Leblanc. "We all shook their hands, we all thanked them."

Leblanc said the mother is still in hospital being treated for her back injury.

The two children are safe, but were also brought to hospital as a precautionary measure.

As firefighters began to battle the fire, Mnard says a man pulled up in a car and was asking about his wife and daughters.

He had apparently stepped out to pick up coffee and doughnuts, since the family had lost power.

The man thanked Mnard and Desgagn and called them "angels."

"We're not heroes," said Mnard holding back tears. "We were lucky to be passing over here that night."

Mnardsaid he wants to check in on the family in a few months to see how they are doing and maybe catch up over a meal.

Watch thestory below.

Hydro team hailed as heroes

8 years ago

Duration 1:57

Two Hydro-Qubec workers are being called heroes after saving a woman and her children. They spotted the family's home ablaze around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.