The St. Stephens Fire Department was dispatched at about 9:35 a.m. to a house fire at 2304 Snow Creek Road, said Fire Chief Shawn Greene.
Ann Neal was in her parent’s house when she heard something fall in the basement. She opened the door and smoke billowed up from the home’s lower level.
“I ran out the door and ran all the way down the road to the neighbor’s house to call 911,” Neal said.
When she did, she realized that her parent’s dog, Candy, was still in the burning house. She told the dispatcher who passed the information along to the firefighters.
Engineer Matthew Quarles was one of the first firefighters to enter the house. He said the smoke was thick from the ceiling to his knees and it was hard to see much of anything inside.
“We located the dog – it was under the kitchen table,” he said. “It was conscious and laying down.”
He scooped the small white dog up in his arms and carried it outside.
“As soon as we brought it out, it started vomiting,” Quarles said.
An EMT gave the dog oxygen, which revived it.
“They brought her out to me,” Neal said. “It was amazing – thank you so much.”
Neal’s son, Keith Culp lives nearby and came to the scene minutes after his mother called 911. He saw Quarles bring the dog out of the house.
“If it had gone much longer, they probably wouldn’t have found her alive,” he said.
Soon Candy was sufficiently recovered that Neal had to hold her tight to keep her from charging back into the house as the firefighters finished putting out hot spots and began their investigation.
Culp said he thinks the fire was caused by his grandfather’s wood stove in the basement.
The fire was ruled accidental.
(Hickory Daily Record - October 4, 2011)
