Firefighters save dog’s life
Published: February 22, 2007
A North Dakota man is thankful that Gillespie volunteer firefighters went above and beyond the call of duty by saving the life of his dog during a recent house fire.
“I pretty much lost everything I had in the fire, but I can’t complain,” said Todd Hoelmer, 44. “They saved my dog, and as soon as I get back on my feet financially, I intend to buy those firemen a beer.”
Hoelmer, a free-lance paleontologist, has been friends with the Dennis and Margaret McGrady family of Gillespie. During the cold months, he often works for their son, Charles, at CM Studio in Benld. CM Studio makes realistic life-size and scale model dinosaurs for museums and private collectors.
The senior McGradys always allowed Hoelmer to stay in the guesthouse they constructed more than 30 years ago using materials from old barns and a coach house. The unique structure was used as a party house when the McGrady children were growing up and featured a huge fireplace, balcony and cupola.
On the night of the fire on Feb. 1, Hoelmer said he was visiting a friend and had only been gone about 30 minutes when his friend got a telephone call telling him the McGrady guesthouse was on fire. Hoelmer raced back to the scene.
When he arrived, he asked the firefighters whether they had seen his dog, Tilly, or his cat, which he hadn’t even owned long enough to give it a name. The firefighters told him the guesthouse was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived, and the first attempts to enter the residence had been deterred by the intense heat. But within a few minutes, firefighters entered the house.
“I was standing there just watching and waiting, and the next thing I saw was a fireman came out of the house lugging Tilly under his arms,” Hoelmer said. “She was dripping wet and looked like she was — if not already dead — pretty near death’s door.”
He said towels appeared from somewhere. Hoelmer dropped to his knees beside his beloved companion, a border collie-blue heeler mix who is almost 19 years old, and tried to give her mouth-to-snout resuscitation.
“I only managed a couple puffs, but I guess I was just too emotional and just not up to it,” Hoelmer said. “I thought she was dead. But a fireman named Terry (Whitlow) took charge and continued mouth-to-snout resuscitation, while the other fireman (Greg Blevins) that had helped bring her out of the house and I kept rubbing her.
“It seemed like Terry worked on her for 10 or 15 minutes — I know he was sure persistent — and all of a sudden, she started to come around.”
Tilly was a bit wobbly on her feet at first, making Hoelmer feel “she was going to flop over and die,” but she revived some.
The cat must have escaped from the house and was found by a neighbor. The trio went to the McGradys’ home to continue drying the animals off; then, the threesome retired to the home of Hoelmer’s friends, where they still are staying.
The animals had hacking coughs and were taken the following day to the Animal Medical Center in Litchfield, where they were given antibiotics and remained for observation until the following Tuesday. Veterinarian Dr. James Pastrovich then gave them a clean bill of health, even though they do still have occasional bouts of coughing.
Hoelmer said he and Tilly have been together almost her entire life, and she accompanies him to all his job sites; they have racked up almost 500,000 driving miles all over the country.
He named his new cat Cinders.
The cause of the fire was attributed to the fireplace flue.
“I feel terrible the fire happened on my watch, as I had started a fire in the fireplace,” Hoelmer said. “I just hope I can make it up to the McGradys by helping them rebuild, as the McGradys have been very good to me.
“And as for the firemen, what can I say? Thank you doesn’t seem like enough.”
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