A native of Spaniard’s Bay now living in Bay Roberts, Smith went to a friend’s house Monday to pick up some equipment he’d loaned. His friend had a copy of The Compass laid out to greet him and asked, “Is this you?” Frazer said it was.
“I was quite shocked actually when I saw the paper,” Frazer told The Compass Tuesday. “I said, ‘My God, they still remember me.’ I was amazed.”
SEE RELATED: 'Survivors of Bay Roberts school fire want to find man who saved them'
Frazer was in behind Ascension Collegiate with his fiancée at the time Sharon and two other friends on the night of Nov. 11, 1974. His friends drove off to go home, and Frazer reckons they were there for a couple of minutes before noticing what he first thought was fog.
Moving their car out from behind the building, the 19-year-old realized the situation was far more serious. He told Sharon to park in a safe zone. Frazer noticed the vehicles parked outside the school and assumed there were people inside.
A man who lived near the school, Jack Butt, also noticed what was going on and came over to help. The two men tried their best to get inside, and Frazer eventually found a window leading into the common room he could jimmy open. He got inside, with Jack coming in behind him.
A native of Spaniard’s Bay now living in Bay Roberts, Smith went to a friend’s house Monday to pick up some equipment he’d loaned. His friend had a copy of The Compass laid out to greet him and asked, “Is this you?” Frazer said it was.
“I was quite shocked actually when I saw the paper,” Frazer told The Compass Tuesday. “I said, ‘My God, they still remember me.’ I was amazed.”
SEE RELATED: 'Survivors of Bay Roberts school fire want to find man who saved them'
Frazer was in behind Ascension Collegiate with his fiancée at the time Sharon and two other friends on the night of Nov. 11, 1974. His friends drove off to go home, and Frazer reckons they were there for a couple of minutes before noticing what he first thought was fog.
Moving their car out from behind the building, the 19-year-old realized the situation was far more serious. He told Sharon to park in a safe zone. Frazer noticed the vehicles parked outside the school and assumed there were people inside.
A man who lived near the school, Jack Butt, also noticed what was going on and came over to help. The two men tried their best to get inside, and Frazer eventually found a window leading into the common room he could jimmy open. He got inside, with Jack coming in behind him.
Springing to action, Jack found a hose inside the school and went off to try and see if there was any way to control the fire. Frazer found the women in the home economics room, where an evening sewing class was taking place.
“I banged on the door of the home economics room and a lady came out — I guess it must have been the instructor or one of them, I don’t know — and I said to her, ‘Get the people out of here.’ I said, ‘Follow me. The school is on fire.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to get out now.’”
She closed the door on Frazer, so he banged on it again and reiterated the seriousness of the situation and the need to leave immediately. This time, everyone left the classroom.
“I said, ‘What I want you to do, the first lady, grab hold of my belt, from my waistline in my back here.’ I said, ‘Each one grab on to each other and follow along.’”
They had to stay low in order to avoid smoke building up inside the school. They first checked what was commonly called the boy’s entrance, but it was locked with a chain. He figured getting everyone out through the window would take too much time, so they moved closer to the area of the school on fire.
“I told the ladies, ‘Get down very low and follow along by the wall, and stay hold of one another. I’ll get you out.’”
Finding a way out
They proceeded down the hallway and made it through the front door. One woman got lost in the commotion and was later rescued from the roof of the lower section. Frazer said he didn’t know at the time they were one person short.
According to a note of thanks published in The Compass, Boyd Snook of Clarke’s Beach and Derek Drover of Upper Island Cove were instrumental in helping Maxine Percy escape after she got separated from the group. They also re-entered the building to see if anyone else was left behind. The note also identifies Dave Gosse of Spaniard’s Bay as someone who attempted to open an entrance and assist the escape.
Frazer caught up with Jack outside. Jack told him there was too much smoke and heat coming from the door where the fire was burning was too much to bear.
“We just got out, and then she went,” recalled Frazer. “It was only a mere matter of minutes, and then she was full blaze.”
The next day while driving his grandfather Llewellyn Smith from Spaniard’s Bay to Bay Roberts, police stopped Frazer to question him.
“Well, I said, ‘You’ve got the wits scared out of my grandfather. Do you mind if I bring him home first and then I’ll meet you down at the police station?’”
After giving his statement to police, Frazer barely ever discussed the fire. He can recall Nelson Dawe of Cupids bringing up the incident a few years ago in conversation, but otherwise it’s not come up.
A former search and rescue volunteer, Frazer says it’s in his nature to lend a hand when someone is in a difficult situation. A carpenter by trade, he recently came across the scene of a moose-vehicle accident on his way to work in Long Harbour.
Police had not arrived, and the male driver was the lone occupant. If someone happened to be in the passenger seat, Frazer expects they would not have made it. Commuting with a friend, Frazer could see the driver was in shock and suggested he get in the truck with his seat reclining a bit while waiting for an ambulance.
“But that’s an ongoing thing for me. I travel the road a lot, and if there’s an accident or something like that … or if somebody needs assistance, I’ll stop and give assistance.”
Looking back, he’s thankful everything worked out as it did, knowing the story about that fire could have proven tragic.
“If I was in the vicinity again, I’d do the same thing — in a heartbeat. When human life is at stake, I would not hesitate to do what I have to do.”
Cupids resident Geraldine Curran, one of the women taking the sewing class that night, is spearheading an effort to have Frazer honoured with a lifesaving award. However, she was not aware of what happened to him in the years following the fire. Reached by The Compass Tuesday, Geraldine said she looks forward to talking with Frazer soon.
This story has been edited to reflect the fact there were 14 women in the school, not 13.
