Chris Richard was told to call the fire department.
It was shortly after 7 a.m. on March 1. His wife was leaving for work, but she noticed something wrong at their neighbours house - a half-duplex on Dawson Court in Charlottetown.
"She heard them yelling for help," he said.
He ran across the street through the morning's heavy snowfall to see two men standing outside and two more yelling from an upstairs window.
Richard couldn't see why they weren't coming down, so he decided to try and enter the building to see if he could help.
"When I opened the door I saw why."
The inside of the house's main floor was on fire. Richard couldn't see any smoke from outside, but it was clear that the upstairs tenants were trapped.
Immediately, he ran back to his house - the owner of DLF Roofing had a ladder strapped to the back of his work truck in the driveway. He hauled it over to the duplex and perched it underneath the second-storey window, allowing the two tenants to climb down and escape.
The Charlottetown Fire Department arrived as the last tenant descended the ladder. The four tenants were very, very fortunate, Fire Inspector Winston Bryan said.
"Thanks to the neighbour and their fast action."
Firefighters proceeded to put out the fire over the course of about 45 minutes. Richard quickly returned to his house to grab some supplies for the four tenants, as none of them had time to dress appropriately for the weather.
"I came over and grabbed them some socks and a blanket," he said. "(I'm) glad they're alright."
Charlottetown Police Services also responded to the emergency call. According to Sgt. Jennifer McCarron, the three tenants were being treated for smoke inhalation on the scene by Island EMS following their escape.
"If it wasn't for the neighbour, things might have ended differently," she said.
Once the fire was extinguished, Bryan and other fire officials began investigating the living room where they suspect the fire started. The investigation is still ongoing, he said.
"There's a lot of heat damage to the main level."
Inside the duplex, the living room's walls were blackened and smoldered. Some of the charred furniture was removed from the building and sitting on the front lawn, and there was a bent window screen attached to the second-storey window that the tenants escaped through.
The tenants, who are all university and college students, received aid from the Canadian Red Cross afterward. Emergency lodging has been arranged for two of them, while the other two will stay with friends, a media release said.
Bryan made note to express his appreciation toward P.E.I. members of Red Cross for their reliability and support.
"They don't get enough recognition as far as I'm concerned."
