For the first time in its seven years, the MSA Fireslayer of the Year Award went to Canadian firefighters. Andrew Brassard and Steve Ellis of the Milton (Ontario) Fire Department, received their awards at April's Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis.

“None of us do the job for awards. None of us do the job for recognition. We do it for the love of the job and the love of the community,” Ellis said when accepting his award. “But to be recognized and honored with this award is something special for us.”

On July 27, 2006, Brassard and Ellis responded to a house fire at 4 a.m. with reports of one trapped occupant. When they arrived the attached garage was fully involved, and fire was quickly spreading to the house. After checking all of the upstairs rooms, the two went to the basement.

“Both Steve and myself heard what we though sounded like a 10-year-old boy or a young child screaming for help,” Brassard said on a video prepared by MSA. “There was zero visibility in the basement.”

Ellis located the victim's leg sticking out from under a blanket using a thermal-imaging camera made by MSA. After carrying the 21-year-old man out of the house, they returned to look for the small boy they had heard. That sound they heard turned out to be the family cat.

“This is truly an exceptional achievement, especially considering the caliber of some of the other nominees for the award,” said Milton Fire Chief Larry Brassard.

Brassard and Ellis also received the 2006 Ontario Medal for Firefighter Bravery.