COLLINGWOOD — A local man is being hailed by the fire department, after he helped a woman who had filled her home with smoke burning paper.

Dean Hollin was riding with his family past the home on Griffin Road, Monday afternoon, when he spotted the woman standing in the doorway, and heard the home's smoke alarm.

He decided to stop and check things out, and found the house was full of smoke.

"The smoke was pretty intense, but there were no flames," said Hollin. "(The woman) was concerned she was causing a commotion, and I was concerned she would go back into the house."

Hollin borrowed a neighbour's phone, and called 9-1-1. Firefighters arrived within three-to-four minutes, he said.

Hollin said he tried to get in the house — twice — to open a window, but the smoke was too much. He was the woman was burning some personal papers in the sink because she didn't have a shredder.

Hollin said the woman said she had just turned 80, and lived alone.

In an email, Collingwood's fire chief Trent Elyea indicated the department is determining what it should do to recognize Hollin's actions.

"We don't normally recommend people going into a burning building," Elyea told the E-B in a phone interview. "But in this case, (Hollin) did do the right thing.

"He was in the right place at the right time," said Elyea. "There was a lot of smoke in the house, and it wouldn't otherwise have been too good.

"We will be doing something to recognize him, because we appreciate his assistance."

"As far as I'm concerned, I was only doing what anyone should do," said Hollin. "There was enough smoke that she clearly would have been overwhelmed if she went back in.

"It does shake you up a bit because you realize how easily things can happen."