The Girl on Fire

CBC

12-03-2025

The teen burned at a Saskatoon school says she will not let the assault define her life
The teen girl burned at a Saskatoon school says she is on the road to recovery and won't let the assault define her life.Chanss Lagaden/CBC
Dan Zakreski Mar. 12, 2025
Warning: this story contains distressing details.
The story comes out in a low, hoarse whisper.
Super-heated fumes scorched the teen's airway and vocal cords. Her voice is coming back, but like everything these days, it's slow and difficult.
The story spills out of her in an unbroken seven-minute monologue of shock, pain and hope.
The 15-year-old is trapped in a headline written by others. She is the Girl from Evan Hardy.
The Girl on Fire.
That changes today. Now, she is telling her story in her words.
"I think it's been enough time for me to mentally recover and, like, be ready enough to share what happened," she said.
CBC met the teen and her parents at their home. The three-hour interview came after five months of discussion, first through text and then over coffee. CBC is not identifying the teen or her parents because she is a youth victim of crime.
The teen set no limits on the questions.
For the interview, she wore black-and-white checked pajama bottoms and a favourite Metallica t-shirt. She loves the band, and still spends time in the basement trying to bang out songs on her gold electric guitar, amplifier and wah-wah pedal.
This story comes with music.
Sept. 5, 2024
It was a Thursday morning in September, the first week of school for the hundreds of students at Evan Hardy Collegiate in east Saskatoon.
The teen was starting Grade 10 and says the day was not going great. She'd just bombed a pop quiz in her third-period history class just before lunch – 'I got, like, three out of nine, cause I forgot most of this stuff' – and a lens had popped out of her glasses.
She texted her Mom, complaining about needing new glasses. The bell rang to end the morning classes.
The hallway was full of students heading for lunch when the two teens came face-to-face. An eyewitness told CBC she saw a girl pour liquid from a black container onto another girl and lift a hand toward the other girl's head.
The liquid ignited, instantly covering her face and torso in flames.
'Before I know it, everything was covered in flames, like my face was on fire,' the teen said.
'I knew they did this to me because before I fell to the ground to try and put out the flames, I saw them, and the teacher assistant was grabbing onto her as if she was gonna run away.
'I was on the ground, rolling and trying to get the fire out and I was screaming like, 'Help me.' And as that was happening, like, my voice slowly started like deteriorating into what it is right now. Like, my voice just kept going quieter and quieter, and I didn't understand why.'
The accused — 14 at the time — would eventually be charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and arson. The girl cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Now 15, she pleaded not guilty in February 2025 and is due back in court this July for a preliminary hearing.
The injured girl remembers a teacher jumping on top of her as she rolled into a classroom doorway.
'He took off his shirt and put out the fire that was on me. And then the fire was out, and it hurt so much,' she said.
'They cut off my shirt and they couldn't cut off some of it cause it was stuck to my body. And they cut off my bra and it left black marks on me. But I'm thankful for that bra, my skin is perfectly fine under there. It was one of my favourites, too.'
LISTEN | Girl describes being set on fire in Saskatoon school
A 15-year-old who was set on fire at Evan Hardy Collegiate describes the harrowing experience.
The minutes after the attack are a blur of fear, pain and confusion. But two memories are clear and distinct.
'I was on the gurney and I asked if my parents were coming because I just wanted to see them and I didn't want to die without seeing them,' she said.
'And one of the teachers, I think it was the assistant principal or something, he said they knew something like this would happen soon. I just thought it was so stupid that they would say something like that right in front of me, after it just happened.'
The school board later identified the teacher who jumped on the teen as Sean Hayes.
"I wanted to share that the injured teacher is at home resting and recovering. He is taking time for himself and looking forward to when he is able to return," school board manager of communications Colleen Cameron said in an email a week after the alleged assault.
'There was a fire at the school'
The 15-year-old had been getting harassing texts and phone calls from another student since the end of the previous school year in June. So was her best friend.
CBC has reviewed the dated and time-stamped texts.
The communications unsettled the girls enough that they went to their mothers. The two mothers and two teens got together on June 30.
'We were looking at phones and discussing what had started this event,' said the friend's mom in an interview. CBC is not naming the friend's mom to avoid identifying her daughter.
'We understood that my daughter's friend was trying to be friendly and accommodating to a kid who was looking to make friends and had shared a phone number. But things had escalated and the frequency of contact was getting really overwhelming.'
The parents also went to Saskatoon police separately, in June and August, and filed formal reports detailing the harassment. They spoke with the police school resource officer and met with the school principal, Karen Peterson, days before the start of the fall semester.
They say that they were assured a safety plan was in place involving Social Services, police and the school.
WATCH | Teen girl lit on fire at high school tells her story for first time:
Last year, a 15-year-old was severely burned at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon in an alleged attack by another student. Now, she is telling the story in her words.
The victim's mom said she learned of the attack through a frantic call from her teenage son, who also goes to Evan Hardy.
'It was right after lunch and my son had called my cell phone in a panic saying there was a fire at the school, and everybody got outside,' she said.
One of his sister's friends had told him, 'it was her that was burning.'
The teen's Mom raced across town to the school, phoning her husband along the way. He had the day off and was at home.
'I had to tell him there was a fire at the school and he needs to be there, right away,' she said.
Both parents arrived at the same time. There were ambulances, paramedics, fire trucks, police cars. Knots of adults, groups of students, TV cameras setting up across the street.
The principal, Karen Peterson, waved them forward into the school.
'So we went into the school and it was just like in the movies. The people parted and we walked straight in to see our daughter,' she said.
'She's already sitting on a gurney and she was sitting upright, talking. Her voice was a little raspy already and she said, 'Hi Dad, hi Mom.'
They followed the gurney to the ambulance.
On the way out, the teen's Mom recalls seeing the principal on her cell phone.
'I don't know who she was on the phone with, but she was freaking out,' she said.
'Definitely not calling us.'
The school division would not provide any comment on the events of the day for this story.
The next hours are a blur of stop-frame memories.
The teen's parents and brother followed the ambulance to the hospital. Her mom stayed with her on the medivac flight to the burn unit in Edmonton, and her father and brother arrived that same night by truck.
There were phone calls to family and friends, phone calls to work, hotel bookings and meetings with doctors.
More than $60,000 raised for Sask. teen victim seriously injured in alleged school fire attack
'Long road ahead' for victim of Saskatoon school fire attack, but relative has high hopes for recovery
Her dad cannot find the words to thank teacher Sean Hayes, who tore off his shirt and smothered the flames.
'Burns can go really deep and cover a lot of your body, very quickly,' he said. 'His fast action did save her life.'
He catalogued his daughter's injuries.
'About 40 per cent of her body was burned. That included her arms, her hands, her shoulders and her face and part of her chest. And her upper back, upper chest,' he said.
The healing journey will include at least another year of skin grafting, laser surgery and physical therapy.
'It's going to be a year's long healing with further treatments to look as natural as possible given the extent of the grafting,' he said.
'The physical therapy will be ongoing for another year or more to get her mobilization back in her hands … her neck and movements are all affected as the scar tissue heals.
'It's very uncomfortable, but she powers through it.'
Play it loud
'I really wanted to grow up playing guitar and since this has happened, I'm not really able to play as good as I used to be,' the girl said.
'My hands can't move as good and it gets really tiring.'
A lot is tiring these days, making the teen's life much quieter than it once was.
She's taking three classes. She talks with friends online, but the only one who has seen her in person is the teen who was also targeted with the threats.
The rest of her time is medical appointments in Edmonton and physio in Saskatoon.
But her injuries haven't silenced her favourite hobby.
What does she like to play?
'Metallica.'
Would she like to play now?
Her Dad brings up the gold Squire Jaguar, black amplifier and wah-wah effects pedal from the basement and sets it up in the front room.
Her Mom helps unwrap the gauze bandages extending from her shirt sleeves to her fingertips. The gauze is spotted with blood.
The scars on her arms are waxy white in places, an angry red in others.
She clicks on the amplifier and it buzzes as she adjusts the guitar on her lap. She cannot grip a pick, so she thumbs the strings as she experiments with the foot pedal. She is not wearing socks.
She tries to find the notes to Seek and Destroy, her favourite Metallica song, but her thumb can't quite hit the right strings. It's awkward and painful to watch, the notes coming out as a squeaky bleep bluck blomp.
She takes a long pause. The sour notes hang in the air and it feels like everyone is holding their breath.
Then she squares her shoulders, re-adjusts the guitar and starts slapping the strings, not picking. Tentative notes are replaced by the familiar defiant riff heard in stadiums around the world.
Enter Sandman.
She pauses again, a grin spreading across her face.
Then she cranks the amp up.
About the Author
Footer Links
My Account
Profile
CBC Gem
Newsletters
Connect with CBC
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Mobile
RSS
Podcasts
Contact CBC
Submit Feedback
Help Centre
Audience Relations, CBC
P.O. Box 500 Station A
Toronto, ON
Canada, M5W 1E6
Toll-free (Canada only):
1-866-306-4636
TTY/Teletype writer:
1-866-220-6045
About CBC
Corporate Info
Sitemap
Reuse & Permission
Terms of Use
Privacy
Jobs
Our Unions
Independent Producers
Political Ads Registry
AdChoices
Services
Ombudsman
Public Appearances
Commercial Services
CBC Shop
Doing Business with Us
Renting Facilities
Accessibility
It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.
Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem.
About CBC Accessibility
Accessibility Feedback
© 2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.
Visitez Radio-Canada.ca