Winnipeg woman trapped with sister in wheelchair as massive fire surrounds house

A Winnipeg woman is grateful she and her disabled sister are alive after firefighters rescued them from a massive fire that destroyed their home inthe Wolseley neighbourhoodon Saturday.

• Wolseley fire rips through multiple homes, leaving melted streetlights, rubble

Neda Procnerand her sister were burnedin the fire that began in a condominium complex under construction and spread to adjacent homes.

They were treated in hospital and released, along with four firefighters who helped them to escape the blaze.

Procner said shewas sleeping when she woke to the sound of crackling and saw bright, orange light.

She rushed down the stairs to her sister, who uses a wheelchair.The sisters havelived together in thehomefor 20 years.

"I said, 'The house is on fire.Thehouse next door is on fire and we have to goI have to get her out. Oh, my God. The treesareon fire. The grass is on fire,'" she said."It was so fast."

Procnersaid she called 911 before she tried to save her sister by going out the back door, where there is a ramp.

"We couldn'tget out, the door washot.It was sparks everywhere," she said."We would've been burned."

She then ran to the front door and realized she was trapped as the front steps were in flames.

"She was behind me," Procner said of her sister."I didn't know how to get her out. I can't lift and the chair was between us."

The city says the original call came in at 3:43 a.m. and fire crews arrived at the scene five minutes later.

Whenfire trucks pulled up before the home,Procner said she initially did not see water.

"It was, 'We're going todie. We're going todie.There's no water, and they don't see us banging, banging, banging," she said.

"When I opened the door to yell, all the heat and sparkscame in.It was just so close. It was really horrible."

Thenfiremen saw herinside the home and sprayed the front steps to gain access to the door.

"Thank God they saw us," she said.

"I don't know if they broke the door becauseit was so quick and all I know, there was hot glass in my way and he's yelling at me to get out, and he's trying to get to [my sister]."

Both Procner and her sister were rescued, but both suffered burns. Four firefighters had burns to their necks and faces. By Sunday, all six people hadbeen released from hospital.

While Procner said she saved her bathrobe and her flip flops, everything else perished in the flames.

Police say the fire is estimated to have caused $4.5 million in damage and witnesses reported two suspects were observed in the area around 3:30 a.m., shortly before the fire broke out.

The arson unit continues to investigate.