'It's all about just helping people one family at a time': Personal tragedy leads a Calgary man to help others prepare for an emergency

Andrew Marchand reviews a home escape plan with client Errol Biebrick

Andrew Marchand started his company called Help Inc  in 2023 a year after he lost his aunt in a Halifax house fire.

At the end of a social get together, when everyone went home and she went to sleep with a disabled smoke detector, a smoldering cigarette butt turned into a blaze that consumed her home and took her life.

"That's when I decided I have background in facilities planning, this happened to me, how can I help other people so it doesn't happen to them," he said. "I know from work experience that if you have an industrial setting or commercial (setting), you have to have emergency preparedness plan.

"When I was looking at the residential side, there's nothing," he added, "it's almost like here's your keys, enjoy your home."

Marchand works with homeowners and realtors to build emergency plans for everyone in the house. He says it's important to come up with safe exit routes for everyone in the family and have a meeting place once outside. When an emergency is happening, Marchand says it's chaotic.

"You're instinctively trying to get things and your mind is not in the right place," he said. "So getting prepared ahead of time, when it happens - you're pre-programmed, at least you have a better chance of being able to get the right things and get out to safety."

Your safe space

Marchand says sadly many Calgarians look at their home as their safe space and don't think tragedy could ever strike them.

"Until it's seen on the news or it's a neighbour or a family member, you don't really think about it," he said. "If it does, (they say they'll) just go out the front door, I've had people literally tell me they will throw their mattress out the window and jump if they have to and then I remind them they have a king size mattress and the window's too small."

Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department says the priority is to get everyone outside safely in an emergency.

"Preparation is key," she said. "So have important documents and photos in one place that is easily accessible, you could quickly grab, you really have to think about the priorities that you have, I mean always first people, pets and then those important possessions that you need like medications, documents, all of those things."

Henke says people don't think about emergency planning until they hear of fires locally or see images of the devastating January fires in Los Angeles.

"I think human nature is to think that nothing bad is going to happen," she said. "I mean, we drive every day, (and) we don't anticipate a collision, but we put our seatbelts on just in case, right ?

"So being prepared is incredibly important."

Calgary fire fighters see the people impacted from fires who are standing outside their home watching their lives go up in smoke with only the clothes on their back.

"I can't even imagine what folks must be feeling when they literally see all of their possessions burning and they can't do anything, it's got to be such an incredibly helpless feeling," she said.

Henke says fire investigators regularly share with her that many renters and tenants often don't have insurance, creating a massive financial burden on them.

"It's just staggering and very sad," she said. "It is a preventable tragedy because tenant insurance really isn't that expensive, I know things are tight these days for a lot of folks, but if you can protect yourself in that way and then at least you can replace all of the things that you've lost in that emergency."

Emergency planning at home

The Calgary Fire Department encourages homeowners to take a few steps now and not put off talking about emergency planning at home.

"Sit down as a family, talk about what if a fire happened in our house," she said. "What are the two ways out of every sleeping area, what is our plan, where is our meeting place, does everyone know to call 911 if we're having guests in our house, if you have someone who's mobility-impaired, can they get out quickly and safely?"

Marchand says he doesn't want anyone to lose a family member to a fire like he did.

"The whole goal of this is to eliminate the phone call that my family received overnight," he said. "And if I can do that for one family and just reduce their amount of potential to have that same outcome, that helps me sleep at night for sure, it's all about helping people one family at a time."

Learn more about escape plans here.