Rob Jobin was in a good mood Monday, June 24, having just purchased a new car at Watkin Motors Ford in Vernon. He was heading back to Lumby where he'd been living with his friend and was looking forward to showing him his new wheels.
But the 57-year-old's pleasant mood was soon replaced with a shot of adrenaline. On his way to Lumby, Jobin came across an unfolding emergency, and sprang into action.
"It was just the biggest plume of smoke I had ever seen," Jobin told The Morning Star, describing the scene of a grass fire that sparked on 27th Street near Highway 6 around 4:30 p.m.
As traffic came to a halt around the scene, Jobin noticed a man fighting the fire that was encroaching upon a house on a hill, with the flames being fanned by a stiff breeze.
"He was outside of his car and he had a fire extinguisher in his hand," Jobin recalled. He later found out that the man, nearing his 70s, was a retired volunteer firefighter.
Jobin called 911 and was told all the operators were busy. He called again a few minutes later and was told crews were on their way.
"I'm like, 'oh my god, this (fire) is spreading everywhere,'" he said.
Rather than standing by, Jobin decided to help the man fight the fire. He said he usually has a fire extinguisher in his vehicle but didn't have one in the car he'd just purchased. Instead, Jobin — who had previously served as an artillery officer in the Canadian Forces — grabbed a military blanket that he had on him and headed towards the blaze.
Armed with the blanket which he used to snuff out flames, and working beside the retired firefighter who was equipped with a shovel, Jobin got to work keeping the fire at bay for about 10 minutes until firefighters arrived.
"We were just covered in soot and smoke," said Jobin, who had a slight burn on his hand after the incident but was otherwise no worse for wear.
"I'd have a little spot fire here, and I'd run over there and put my blanket on and just pat it out."
Jobin and the retired firefighter worked to keep the fire from the nearby home, and continued helping after crews arrived and hosed the blaze down. He said the fire was snuffed out just short of a shed on the home's property.
"That house would have burned down if we didn't work on (the fire) for 10 minutes," Jobin said.
Vernon North Okanagan RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Tania Finn confirmed that two passersby attempted to control the flames prior to emergency crews' arrival.
Finn said the suspected cause of the blaze was a flicked cigarette butt, and Jobin attested to the fact that several butts were in the area of the fire.
"I'd say there was about 10 (butts) that we discovered," he said.
When the emergency was over, Jobin said it felt good to have helped spare the house from going up in flames.
"We didn't think, we just knew we had to do," he said. "We were public servants all our lives, and we just did it."