Couple alerted to fire by dog
Published: February 22, 2007
A dog may have started a fire at his family’s home - and then saved their lives by barking to wake them up.
Fire chiefs believe the collie rescue dog started the fire in New Street, St Georges, Telford, by jumping on to the cooker top and turning it on.
The heat from the hob then set fire to a nearby tea towel at about 3.45am yesterday.
The owners were upstairs in bed at the time, but were alerted to the fire by their dog barking. They both escaped unhurt.
They had apparently been decorating during the day and had taken down their smoke alarms.
Leading firefighter Billy Edwards, of Telford central fire station, said he had never seen anything like the incident before.
“The dog must have jumped on the cooker and just flicked the electric switch.
“The tea towels were adjacent to the ring switched on, so the heat from the hob started them burning.”
“The owners were lucky their dog woke them up. He did a very good job - apart from starting the fire.”
The fire had been put out when firefighters arrived at the house, but the ground floor was smoke-logged, he said.
“It was the dog that alerted them to the fire, he said. “Apparently it was the first time it’s ever barked. It was a rescue dog and they hadn’t had him too long.”
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