A dog’s senses are truly remarkable. They can detect things better and long before humans can. This makes them valuable to services like fire departments, since a dog’s sense of smell can be used to detect sources of fires.
But they’re also invaluable to have around the house in the event of an emergency. We often see cases of cats and dogs heroically saving the day by alerting their human families of impending danger.
That’s what one dog did this week, amazingly saving his owner from danger and getting out safely.
Brian Rand is a Vietnam veteran who lives in Beaufort County, South Carolina with his dog Curly.
Late Sunday night, Brian was fast asleep… but Curly was awake, and noticed something alarming.
The dog urgently went up to his owner, nuzzling him awake. Brian was unaware of any danger.
“I thought when he came in and started poking me, that my phone alarm was going off,” he told WTOC.
He got up, and immediately saw what the dog was warning him of: the house was on fire.
“Got up and started walking, but when I got up, the house was overly smoky,” he told WJCL. “Saw the flames through the side window.”
Luckily, both the man and his dog got out in time, and the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department arrived to quell the flames within minutes.
About half of the home was destroyed, although they were reportedly able to save Brian’s war medals.
The fire department says that while it’s great the dog was able to save the day, no one should rely on a dog for safety.
“You know, we got lucky,” Ross Vezin, who does communications for Beaufort Fire, told WTOC. “Curly woke up his best friend, but you always need a working smoke detector.”
It’s amazing how Curly instinctively knew to warn his master of the danger… and given how fast the flames raged through the home, it’s easy to imagine how tragic things might have been if he hadn’t.
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