GRAND VALLEY – Alan Mackie says he was simply doing what anyone else would have done when he kicked in the door of a burning building last March to rescue his elderly neighbour.
But Mackie has received multiple accolades recognizing his actions as heroism, including a recently awarded Carnegie Medal.
The Carnegie Medal goes to individuals from across North America “who risk themselves to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others,” states Jewels Phraner, spokesperson for the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
“I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal,” Mackie insists.
‘Big flames shooting out’
He was watching television at home late on a Thursday evening when he noticed a flickering light on the driveway.
Initially, he assumed the lights were from an ambulance. He knew his neighbour Stewart Gregson was in poor health and figured paramedics had come to help him with an emergency.
But when he looked outside to investigate, Mackie was shocked to see “big flames shooting out of the roof” at Gregson’s house.
“The attic was on fire, above the kitchen,” Mackie recounts during a phone interview with the Advertiser from his mechanic shop in Grand Valley.
When Mackie saw the flames he called 911 and the operator advised he stay outside of the building and make as much noise as possible to attempt to wake his neighbour.
So Mackie honked the car horn in his driveway, hoping the sound would travel through Gregson’s nearby bedroom window and alert the man to the danger.
But when Mackie didn’t see any sign of his neighbour, he talked to his wife about what to do next.
‘Okay, I’m going in’
They knew it would take a little while for volunteer firefighters from Orangeville to arrive at the Grand Valley home and they were concerned the wait could be the difference between life and death for Gregson.
That’s when Mackie said “Okay, I’m going in.”
From inside the doorway Mackie called out to Gregson and heard his neighbour answer weakly. At that point, he knew he had to go inside.
Inside, Mackie could see the kitchen was alight with flames and the house was full of smoke above his waist.
Crouched below smoke
So he crouched down below the smoke and made his way towards Gregson’s bedroom. He found his neighbour, helped him sit down on his walker, and dragged him out of the house.
Mackie said walker’s metal bars did not burn his hands, perhaps due to the calluses that have formed during his 40-year career as a mechanic.
“I take things out of the oven without gloves,” Mackie said with a laugh.
Gregson was groggy while Mackie escorted him out and just as they got to the front door, paramedics pulled up.
They quickly got Gregson onto a stretcher and hooked up to oxygen before rushing him to the hospital.
Police later told Mackie Gregson had a rough time at the hospital, where it “was touch and go for a while.”
But when Mackie saw Gregson about a month later, he seemed considerably better than he had been for months.
Gregson now lives in a retirement home in Orangeville, Mackie said.
It was warm in the house during the rescue, but Mackie was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, “so I was okay,” he said with a chuckle.
Later that night, when Mackie brought hot chocolates and pops out to the firefighters who stuck around to ensure any heat spots were under control, he was still wearing his shorts and T-shirt on the chilly March evening, plus a pair of Birkenstocks, something he said the firefighters gave him a hard time about.
“I say it’s my Scottish heritage,” Mackie said with a laugh – “my ancestors would have been wearing kilts.”
‘Other people would have done the same’
Mackie admits rushing into a burning building without training and wearing only shorts and a T-shirt “could have gone bad,” but he didn’t really stop to think about the risk.
“It certainly would have gone bad for Stewart had I not,” Mackie said, so it didn’t really feel like a choice.
“Other people would have done the same.”
The following morning Mackie was drinking coffee at work when he causally shared the events of the previous night.
The owner of the used car dealership on the same lot as the mechanic shop thought what he did was “a huge deal,” Mackie said, and threw him a pizza party later that evening.
That’s when Mackie received his first award for the heroic deed: a homemade medal from his colleagues.
Accolades
Since then, “it’s kind of taken on a life of its own,” Mackie said.
He is one of 18 recent recipients of the Carnegie Medal, and the only Canadian in this group of winners.
Alan will receive a grant of $7,500 USD and a custom bronze medal with his name and details about the rescue inscribed on the back.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission considers the medal “North America’s highest civilian honour for heroism.”
Mackie also received the Town of Grand Valley’s Citation of Heroism award on June 27.
Though Mackie doesn’t enjoy being in the spotlight for something he considers a simple act, he said he’s willing to speak about it in the hopes it could encourage others to do something similar.
“Do what you can to help people,” Mackie urges.
