‘He’s a hero’: Veteran Alberta firefighter in coma after wildfire injury | 24CA News
A veteran Alberta wildland firefighter is within the hospital after struggling a severe damage whereas battling the wildfire in his residence group.
On May 5, the wildfire hit East Prairie Metis Settlement shortly, as fires broke out throughout the province. Within minutes, residents had been fleeing for security — family members got here to Frankie Payou and Melodie Robinson’s residence to warn them it was time to evacuate.
Robinson, five-months pregnant, collected their three kids, together with their eight-month-old daughter who was days out of a kidney operation. Payou stayed behind to assist battle the hearth that was ravaging his group.
With 14 years of firefighting beneath his belt, Payou fire-proofed the household’s residence, then began to do the identical for others.
He was gone not even quarter-hour when his own residence caught fireplace, mentioned Jessica Supernault, a relative of Robinson’s. His mom’s home additionally caught fireplace and burned.
In complete, 27 houses in the neighborhood had been destroyed by the hearth. Despite dropping his residence, Payou continued to struggle the hearth for days, till a tree he was making an attempt to fell cracked and landed on him.
On May 14, Robinson, who was staying at a resort together with her kids, acquired a name that Payou was being transported to the hospital after a tree fell on his head, leaving him unconscious.
His crew referred to as Air Forestry, which took him to High Prairie. From there, STARS Air Ambulance transported Payou to the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, the place he stays in a coma, defined Supernault.
“He has bleeding in the brain. He has kidney and liver damage. He also has broken ribs and they were waiting for a spinal surgeon to come and see how fractured his C-7 was,” mentioned Supernault, who’s performing because the household’s spokesperson.
“She misses her daddy, Melodie has been telling me,” she mentioned of the couple’s child. They even have an eight-year-old and a 15-year-old. “We’re all praying for a full recovery for him. He’s a hero.”
A GoFundMe was began for the household after news broke of their residence burning, however the reason for the fundraiser shifted after Payou’s accident.
During Tuesday’s wildfire replace, the province mentioned there have been no accidents reported to the Emergency Coordination Centre for the reason that wildfires first broke out on the finish of April.
“That doesn’t mean local authorities aren’t having any injuries and aren’t tracking them,” mentioned Colin Blair, govt director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency throughout Tuesday’s briefing.
“The good thing is we haven’t had a fatality at this point in time.”
— with information from Morgan Black, Global News
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
