WEYBURN — Weyburn Police Service (WPS) Cpl. Ryan Cherniawsky says he doesn’t seek the limelight, but he received plenty of attention after life-saving actions last year.
Cherniawsky was presented with a Valour Award by the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police (SACP) earlier this month, in recognition of Cherniawsky’s actions on March 5, 2025, when he saved the life of a man in a house fire.
In an interview with SaskToday, Cherniawsky recalled the WPS received a call about the fire. The incident was only a couple of blocks from the police station, so once he exited the WPS building, he could smell and see the smoke.
After directing officers to block the street so that fire trucks could access the building. Cherniawsky was told that an older man and a younger child were still inside, and since he was on scene before the fire department arrived, Cherniawsky sprang into action.
“The next thing I knew, I’m crawling in there,” he said. “There’s billowing smoke coming out of all the windows, and you could feel the heat, but something in there just inside me just said ‘Go, you can get them’,” said Cherniawsky.
Upon entering the building, he didn’t encounter a backdraft, so he thought the fire was likely deeper in the structure or in the basement.
“There was smoke basically everywhere that you could see, but there was a little cushion of air about an inch to three inches off the ground,” he said.
He crawled as far as he thought he could safely, calling out the whole time without getting a response, but then saw an individual who was laying on the ground. The person said he was the only person inside.
“I took one last good gasp of air, because I knew I couldn’t drag him while I was crawling … before I would inevitably have to stand up into the heat and the smoke, and grabbed this individual.”
He was able to move the person from the building despite having to take a few deep breaths of the smoky air.
The man was the only occupant of the building. The child wasn’t present at the time of the fire. Another person tried to enter to retrieve their pets, Cherniawsky said, but couldn’t enter because of the size and the heat of the fire.
Cherniawsky noted after exiting, he spent three hours at the scene on traffic control.
The house was completely consumed by the fire and had to be demolished, he said.
Cherniawsky was a wild land firefighter from 2009-2011 and was based out of Stony Rapids, but he handled a few structure fires during his career. He joined the WPS in 2013.
He said police officers in the province, whether they be municipal or RCMP, go above and beyond the call of duty every day. On this occasion, a crowd witnessed his actions. He added police officers don't take these measures for awards.
“You signed up to make a difference, to go over and above and to help the public, and that’s exactly what I signed up to do. I didn’t really expect an award from it," he said.
But he added it’s nice to receive the recognition and see positive publicity for the Weyburn Police Service.
