Chris Ash awoke early Sunday morning to the smell of smoke on his quiet Surrey Street.
鈥淚 saw the fire and ran outside,鈥� said Ash, 26.
But there was nothing he could to help his next door neighbours on 94A Avenue. The elderly couple were found dead in their home.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 get to the front door,鈥� explained Ash, who attempted with a passing cab driver to rescue the couple. 鈥淭he entrance was starting to collapse. We tried going around back but it was all full of smoke.鈥�
Surrey firefighters arrived a few minutes later and pulled the couple out of the trim, two-level home on the corner of 157th Street.
Police did not release the couple鈥檚 name, saying they had yet to reach relatives.
Neighbours said the man, who went by the name Paul, was friendly.
Ash said Paul was 鈥渁 wonderful man鈥� and an 鈥渁mazing neighbour.鈥�
鈥淗e used to bring us fresh fruit from his back yard,鈥� said Ash. 鈥淗e was a very nice man.鈥�
Maureen Campbell, 80, has lived across the street from the dead couple for more than 20 years.
鈥淗e was a good man,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 knew him, but I never met his wife. I think she was bed-ridden.
鈥淪eniors are at a higher risk than the general public 鈥� is really how important it is to check your smoke alarms regularly,鈥� said Karen Fry, Surrey鈥檚 deputy fire chief Karen Fry. 鈥淐hange them every 10 years.鈥�
It鈥檚 too early to say whether the gutted home had working smoke detectors, but Fry said 鈥渋t鈥檚 a really good reminder in really tragic circumstances.鈥�
Fry said research shows that 35 per cent of the deaths in B.C. that occur in fires are suffered by individuals over the age of 65.
鈥淵et they only account for 15 per cent of the population,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e twice as likely to die in a fire than any other age group.鈥�
听
