Posts tagged "fire"

When the fire alarm goes off in a public school and there was no fire drill scheduled, you know the principal must think, "Oh great, no I have to figure out which one of these bratty kids pulled the alarm." As it turns out in this case, however, it wasn't a bratty kid at all. It was a bratty squirrel. Well, I think it's obvious what happened here. That squirrel had a history test first period that it didn't study for, and it thought it could weasel its way out of it with this sneaky move. I bet he thought he was being sly as a fox. But somebody ratted him out.

During a hurricane, fire or flood, the first priority of rescue personnel is to get people to safety. But what about the pets and other animals left behind? Who takes care of them?

Enter Noah's Wish, an organization founded in 2002 with a single mission: to provide rescue and recovery for animals during disasters.

When the call goes out, volunteers from all over the country arrive within 10 hours to begin caring for affected animals. They commonly go into areas with no power, no water, flooded streets, toxic debris all around and animals in desperate need of help. The animals may suffer from burns, smoke inhalation, wounds, infection, injury, exposure, dehydration, hunger, parasites and toxins. Pets may be lost, scared, and running and swimming through dangerous polluted streets. But Noah's Wish volunteers have been trained to help.

There are 1,500 unpaid trained volunteers and two paid employees at Noah's Wish who are ready to help when emergencies arise. Veterinary care, vaccinations and emergency services are provided free.

When something bad happens, California-based Noah's Wish contacts animal service providers in the affected area to get the invite to help, then rescuers find a location to set up "MASH"-style hospitals and shelters, throw up fences and gather supplies to handle the dogs, cats, horses and other pets that soon are brought into the triage stations. In just 11 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, 1,974 animals were cared for by Noah's Wish volunteers.

Just like in an episode of "Lassie," this hero dog led police to the scene of a fire and helped save his family.

Buddy, a German shepherd, was with his owner, Ben Heinrichs, when his family's workshop caught fire. Once he and Buddy were safely outside, Heinrichs turned to the dog and said, "We need to get help." He didn't expect Buddy to actually do anything about it, of course. However, help is exactly what the shy dog brought -- in the form of an Alaska State Trooper, reports the Anchorage Daily News. The dog's heroic act was caught on the trooper's dashboard camera.

Buddy had gone off into the woods, and Heinrich assumed the pooch was hiding. In fact, Buddy had run out to the road, where he caught the attention of Alaska State Trooper Terrence Shanigan, who had been alerted by concerned neighbors when they saw a fireball erupting in the distance. Shanigan was having difficulty finding the fire due to the winding country roads. That's when Buddy suddenly appeared. On a hunch, Shanigan followed the dog and arrived on the scene just in time. He was able to talk the fire department through the difficult directions, and they put out the flames just before the fire spread to the family's home.

Buddy is being presented with an award from the Alaska State Troopers today, including a silver plated, engraved dog bowl, reports "Today" via the Associated Press. We're willing to bet he's getting more than a few extra cuddles and dog biscuits.

Two men and 43 horses were killed early Saturday when a barn fire broke out at a harness-racing track at the Warren County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Ohio, according to the Dayton Daily News.

The state fire marshal has ruled out criminal intent, but hasn't yet released details explaining how the deadly fire began. The call came in at 4:50 a.m., and dozens of firefighters from surrounding communities rushed to the scene.

The firefighters kept the blaze from spreading to the other barns on the property, but the fire raged for hours. Initially, reports said 65 horses had been killed, but that number was later revised to 43, according to CNN.com.

The identities of the men killed in the fire have not been confirmed, but employees of the stables told the Associated Press that the individuals were believed to be veteran horse groomers. It was not clear whether they were working at the stables in the early morning hours, or if they may have slept there.

Determining what caused the deadly blaze could take weeks, Shane Cartmill, a spokesperson for the Ohio State Fire Marshal, told the Dayton Daily News. "We are very early on in the investigation," he said.

Horse owners and regulars at the adjacent Lebanon Raceway track were stunned by the loss. One of the horses that perished was Hoosier Flash, a six-year-old mare who had finished first at the Lebanon Raceway just hours earlier.

Horse owner Nancy Curtner lost her yearling filly Rosie in the tragic fire. "It still seems like it's not true," Curtner told the Associated Press. "We have a lot of memories in that barn."

Your cat might mistakenly whizz on the carpet, or have herself an accident on a couch cushion (the one on which you always lay your head, of course). And when these things happen, it's understandable that you might become a little purr-turbed. But bear in mind that while there may be a smelly stain left behind for you to clean up, at least your house isn't on fire.

The owners of a gated-community home in Gold Coast, Queensland were not so lucky last week.

According to the Sindh Today, the blaze broke out on the second floor of the lavish house at around 9 a.m. on July 5th, gutting a decent portion of the house before firefighters managed to extinguish the flames. Luckily, damage was limited to the second floor where the fire originated. Two teenage boys were able to escape with their family cats. One of the boys suffered significant smoke inhalation, but is fine after treatment. Neither of the boys' parents were home at the time of the fire, and there were no other injuries.

Nothing so unusual about this particular house fire yet, right?

House fires might start due to a frayed wire, an unattended candle, a sleepy smoker, an errant hotplate. In this case, firefighters traced the fire to a laptop computer in the home. Spontaneous laptop combustion? Not so, say the teenage residents of the home. Though their cats normally are outdoor cats, one of them apparently took exception to being let out that day. According to the boys, the cat found a way back into the house and expressed its displeasure by relieving itself on the laptop -- and as we already know, liquids and electronics don't mix. A smoke alarm engaged shortly after and chased the boys out of the house... with the firebug feline in tow.

How many other house-fire victims do you know about who took the time to rescue the arsonist while escaping their flame-engulfed home?

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