Man proves to be dog’s best friend during fire rescue
Published: September 22, 2006
Lt. Chris Alliger worked for 13 years as a firefighter before saving his first life Sept. 12.
Ironically, that life belonged not to a person, but to a chocolate Labrador retriever named Thomas.
“It’s kind of funny, in 13 years in working for the county I’ve never had a save in a fire,” said Alliger, 34, of the Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department. “My first save is a dog.”
Indeed, Thomas was one of two Labrador retrievers firefighters saved Sept. 12, in responding to a report of a kitchen fire at a house in the 6400 block of Pennell Court, in Elkridge.
A second dog, Abigail, was saved by firefighters from the Savage Volunteer Fire Company.
The fire, which began accidentally, caused $50,000 in damage to the house and was under control in 15 minutes, said Howard County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman William Mould.
The house’s owners were not home at the time, though the dogs were, Alliger said.
Kevin Mayer, 40, said he was coming home from his two sons’ soccer practice when he saw smoke coming from his house and heard the smoke alarms sounding from within it.
He dialed 911, then tried to enter the house, worried that his wife might be home, and about the dogs he knew were in the house.
“I tried to get in, (but) there was just too much smoke,” he said.
After getting his wife on a cell phone, and discovering that she was not home, he continued to try to get the dogs out of the house by calling their names.
But the dogs didn’t respond.
Saving animals not easy
Firefighters were on the scene within minutes, Mayer said. They entered the kitchen through the garage.
After dousing the fire with water, Alliger said he took an ax and chopped a hole in the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen to see if the fire had spread there.
That’s when he heard a bark coming from a nearby hall.
Alliger put down his ax and soon found Thomas, who was lying on the floor, fading in and out of consciousness from having inhaled smoke.
“The sad part is, he was right at the bottom of the steps, about three feet from the front door, and people had walked up the stairs and not seen him,” Alliger said. “It was probably one of the more pathetic things I’ve seen in my life.”
Saving Thomas wasn’t easy, he added.
“With a dog you don’t have armpits to get your arms under, so it was really awkward trying to pick him up,” Alliger said.
Nevertheless, he carried Thomas outside, where he handed him to an ambulance crew that gave the dog oxygen.
Dogs recovered after ordeal
Meanwhile, Lt. Mike Walker and firefighter Pat LePore, of the Savage Volunteer Fire Company, had located Abigail, another Labrador retriever, at the top of the stairs.
“The dog was really, totally out of it,” Walker, 45, said. “As a matter of fact, when we located it I didn’t think the dog would survive.”
Walker carried the dog downstairs and handed her to an ambulance crew.
Rescue workers fed the dogs air through firefighters’ masks until the ambulance crew was able to give the dogs oxygen, said Sean Mowbray, an Emergency Management Technician who worked with the ambulance crew.
The dogs were revived in minutes and transported by ambulance to an emergency veterinary clinic in Catonsville, Mowbray said.
Thomas returned home Sept. 17 and Abigail Sept. 18. Although still weak, they are expected to recover from their ordeal, Mayer said.
Mayer and his family are temporarily living in his mother’s house in Sykesville. Their Elkridge house is expected to be repaired within three to six months.
Meanwhile, Mayer is grateful to the firefighters for saving his house and his dogs.
“They require a significant amount of kudos for what they did,” he said. “We’ll definitely be going by to see the guys in Elkridge and bring the dogs by.”
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