Mom receives firefighter honour for protecting son from flames

For her bravery in protecting her youngest son in a devastating fire, Stephanie McDougall has received an honour that few civilians will ever achieve.

The townhouse the mother and her three sons lived in went up in flames quickly on the evening of Dec. 3, 2024. Crews received a 911 call for the smell of natural gas, a lower priority call for the fire department than smoke, Nick DeFazio, media information officer with Ottawa fire, told CityNews in an interview.

When firefighters arrived on scene just after 8:30 p.m., two of McDougall’s sons ran outside saying there was a fire. Black, billowing smoke was coming from the rear of the stacked townhome in the Hunt Club community, with McDougall and her youngest son, Malcolm, still inside.

DeFazio said within seconds, firefighters “turned on a dime” to rescue the two people who were found in the kitchen and tackled the rapidly moving fire. Flames burned McDougall’s skin as she protected her special needs son from the brunt of the blaze.

“She did what any great parent would do in a time like that,” DeFazio said. “She didn’t really have a choice; she couldn’t escape.”

Both McDougall and Malcolm were in the hospital for several days after the fire. It took everything from the small family, leaving nothing but the clothes on their back.

To recognize the great uphill battle McDougall faced over the next nine months, while caring for her sons and rebuilding their lives, Paul Hutt, Ottawa Fire Chief, wanted to present her with an honour usually given to crew members.

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The origins of a Challenge Coin date back to the First World War and are given to people who represent the values of fire services. Typically, they are used to recognize people within the department for outstanding work, but very occasionally, they are given to civilians who exemplify the same morals.

“Its values are standing together, working together, serving together, as reflected by: teamwork, honour, integrity, commitment, and pride,” a pamphlet on the coin explains.

This year, McDougall is the only person to receive the honour under these circumstances.

When she heard the fire department wanted to give her this honour, McDougall couldn’t hold back tears.

“I started crying right away,” she told CityNews in an interview. “It just makes me sad and happy. Happy because I’ve never really received anything like that ever, and to be recognized like that… It’s very big. (But) I’m sad because it was a very sad night for me.”

Over the next nine months, the family of four moved in with McDougall’s mother, Beth Conway, in her one-bedroom apartment.

“They all had dressers and a private space each, which was really important,” Conway said. “And I had what we called my ‘tent ‘; 60 square feet enclosed with soft walls and a bed, a dresser, and a TV, and I would retreat there at night, and it was really okay.”

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Community provides funds to renovate the home to new

At the end of the year of instability, McDougall and her sons are moving back into the townhouse thanks to the generosity of the Ottawa community.

A GoFundMe was set up in the aftermath of the blaze by Conway, who couldn’t believe it when thousands of strangers donated around $44,000. The money not only provided new clothes and personal items, but it also allowed the home to be renovated so they could return.

“Such a generous gift that they did for us,” McDougall said of the people who donated. “A lot of people didn’t think that they would put our home back together…We had to wait nine and a half months, but I’d rather wait than have no home.”

Now the house sports new paint, updated furniture and gave McDougall the time to focus on taking care of her sons.

“It was an enormous outreach and it afforded us to be able to bring Stephanie home to a really lovely home,” Conway said.