Canine companion alerts its owner to a fast-spreading fire

It was the night his best friend became his hero

"I mean, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today," Wayne Pellett told CTV News.

As fire spread through his apartment complex, Pellett’s dog, Freedom, did two things he rarely does; he jumped up on the bed and started and started barking loudly.

It was around 12:30 am on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wayne had fallen asleep earlier in the apartment they shared in a building on the southwest corner of Hiawatha and Curtis streets.

The aggressive, urgent barks came as smoke and flames began to push into the second floor apartment.

"I'll never forget it,” said Pellet. “Him barking and waking up to that."

Pellett said his apartment was directly above where the fire started, "I was facing my dresser and I could see the thick smoke and the flames – the glow from the flames coming from between my floor, and my wall, and my dresser."

Around the same time the fire started, there was a reported shooting with 40-year-old Victoria Dill dying soon after in hospital.

St. Thomas police launched a homicide and arson investigation that morning.

On Tuesday, police issued an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Keegan Harvey of St. Thomas. He’s facing two charges: one count of arson with disregard for human life and one count of accessory after the fact to murder.

Pellett's apartment suffered extensive damage as the result of a fire in St. Thomas. ON July 3, 2024. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

"It didn't need to come to this,” stated property manager Tom Burke. “Displacing all these people. Disrupting a whole neighbourhood and then the loss – the pointless loss of a life.”

Burke said there had been a dramatic increase in drug use and assaults at the property in the last two years.

He said there were numerous communications with St. Thomas police, City Hall, and the Landlord Tenant Board trying to address problem tenants at 20 Hiawatha St.

Burke said many neighbours refused to come outside and it made his job a challenge, "Not being able to come here for two years without having somebody to watch me just so I can cut the grass."

Pellet and three other tenants were displaced by the fire damage. For now, he is staying in an RV on the property of life-long friend Robert Trimble as he tries to piece his life back together.

"He's having to re-live it time-and-time again this week,” said Trimble. “Everybody bringing out donations and they want to know what happened. It's tough."

Pellet said it won't be easy to rebound. He was paying $640 a month for rent and won’t find anything close to that now.

Trimble has created an online fundraising effort for Pellet.

Pellet said he grateful to have made it out unharmed with his canine companion, Freedom, "I got out, I got us both out. I'm pretty blessed that I got out."

Pellet also thanked St. Thomas firefighters for retrieving precious items, like the ashes of his mother and father and some of his photo albums. They also recovered some of his tools.

Pellett told CTV News that he’s an independent contractor, mostly doing flooring and drywall.

Police said they are continuing to seek other suspects in relation to the investigation.