Barking, scratching dogs save Dunedin woman from house fire
From WTSP Tampa Bay
Barking, scratching dogs save Dunedin woman from house fire
By: Dave Balut
Dunedin, Florida - Heidi Moller has only known her roommate's dogs a few weeks, but a white pit bull mix named Alligator, and a Great Dane named Maverick, are her new best friends.
"Oh my God, I love them,” said Moller.
Moller's roommate Jennifer was at work and she was still sleeping about 7:30 last Friday morning. The dogs wouldn't stop barking.
They kept scratching the hallway door until Heidi let them in. Then they led her to the garage door.
"The white dog she started barking at the door and then I opened the door, saw smoke coming in there was like flames coming up in my face," said Moller.
Moller and the dogs got out and she called 911. Dunedin firefighters stopped the fire before flames got into the attic.
"If it wasn't for the dogs because I sleep so hard the smoke would have reached me before the flames if they wouldn't have woke me up and then I wouldn't be able to wake up by the time the flames hit my room," said Moller.
Dunedin Fire Marshal Bill McElligott says the dogs got Moller out of the house before smoke detectors went off.
"It was a good volume of fire in that garage area and she's very fortunate she had the animal give her the early warning," said McElligott.
McElligott says the fire was started by poor ventilation that caused the dryer to overheat. Moller and her roommate lost most of their clothes and are now moving what they have left.
"The dogs were ok, I was ok that was the important thing," said Moller.
And she'll never forget how Ali and Maverick saved her life.
The dogs have been getting lots of hugs and kisses and some big bones since they woke up Heidi, and got her out of the burning house in time.
