A Fillmore couple barely escaped injury when their home of 18 years burned last Wednesday, Feb. 18, taking their possessions and their two cats with it.

"It's so devastating and it happens so fast," said James Kyrylchuk, who was woken, along with his wife Tracy, about 7:45 a.m. that day by the sound of smoke and CO2 alarms.

"It's unbelievable how little time we had to get out. We wouldn't be here without the (smoke alarms)," he said.

The couple's hair was singed by flames coming up the basement steps, and they were barely dressed when they rushed out the front door in bare feet. James wore only jeans as he scrambled out last.

"The fire was spreading and the smoke was so choking I could hardly see," said James, who was still shaken Friday, two days later.

"I can't explain how terrifying it is. The windows blew just as I left the house."

Tracy found the family's two dogs and got them out. The dogs were so frightened they didn't even bark, said James.

"Fortunately, the kids were gone because it was a school break," he said. Their three teenage children returned to Fillmore on Friday.

"There is extensive fire and smoke damage (to the house)," said James. "It looks like a total loss."

The couple first went to their neighbors, Don and Angela Lubiens, where they were given warm clothing and coffee. They stayed the next couple of nights with the Lubiens and were preparing Friday to move to the home of other friends.

"We're exploring the possibility of renting," said James. "We don't know what to do next. We're lost until we have a place to go."

The volunteer fire department got the call around 8 a.m., said fire chief Lionel Kosior, and the crew was on the scene for three to three and a half hours.

"We had lots of help fighting the fire," he said. "In a small community, most people have to get involved or else you don't have a volunteer fire department."

The chief added that the fire crew could hear the smoke alarm sounding when they arrived, and the alarm stayed on for a while as the crew fought the blaze.

James said the house is about 70 years old. The couple have lived in it since about six months after they were married, he said, adding the fire began in the basement.

"We had insurance but it won't be near enough to replace what we had and start all over again at our age," he said.

James is extremely critical of the 911 rural emergency service, which he describes as "dangerous."

He said the neighbors notified 911 about the fire but the service refused to take the information and sound the local fire alarm until it received the house number on the burning house.

People don't use house numbers in rural Saskatchewan, and the neighbours didn't have it, he said.

James said he ended up driving to the Fillmore fire hall to set off the fire alarm after the 911 service locked up the neighbors' phone.

"If they're going to charge me (for the service), maybe they'd better put people in who understand the rural system," he said. The system is not working right, he said. "It's horrid."

A spokesman for the 911 service said the department is reviewing their files to determine what happened.

A trust fund has been set up at the Bank of Montreal in Weyburn to raise funds to help the family.

Family friend Shannon Leas said Tuesday a community event on behalf of the Kyrylchuk family is being planned in Fillmore for a later date.