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Stranded in blazing home, pooch is found, revived
By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- Firefighters train to save human lives. But sometimes they end up saving man's best friend instead. Dade City firefighters responded to a house fire Sunday morning at 16020 Catalina Drive. They extinguished the fire, but not before it caused $35,000 in damage, likely destroying the home's interior. Timothy Smith, who rents the house, escaped safely. So did one of his two dogs. But another one, a small mixed-breed, got stuck behind in the burning home. Firefighters happened upon the dog as they put out the fire. The animal lay unconscious. "We thought it was dead," said Dade City firefighter John Falls. Falls and Pasco County firefighter Chris Kempton noticed the dog still had labored breathing. They administered oxygen to the canine, and it slowly regained consciousness. Falls called a friend who rescues animals, and when Smith said he didn't have the money to take the dog to the vet, Falls' friend agreed to do so. With Smith's consent, the dog will have new owners when it recovers. Dade City Capt. Joey Wubbena said he was glad that firefighters could help. "It's somebody's pet," Wubbena said. "It's part of somebody's family." Firefighters believe the cause of the fire was a window air conditioning unit that had caught fire. Smith reported the fire around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. But because he didn't have a phone and had to borrow a neighbor's, the fire already was raging by the time firefighters arrived. Oh, and the small dog that firefighters rescued earned a new name from its caretakers: Smokey.
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
