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HERO DOG SAVED US FROM WOK FIRE
A WOMAN had a lucky start to the Chinese Year of the Dog - when a pet pooch saved her from
a raging wok fire.
The oriental cooking dish had set Wiebke Phillips's house ablaze as she slept downstairs.
Her
son had been preparing a meal just days into the Chinese New Year.
The two smoke alarms fitted near the kitchen of
her home in Edinburgh had failed to go off.
But her beloved Staffordshire bull terrier sensed the danger and bounded
in to alert his owner.
And he did such a good job of waking her that she managed to escape with onlyminor burns to
her hands.
Wiebke, 38, had not been feeling well on Wednesday night and was asleep on the sofa when teenage son James
decided to cook himself some Chinese food.
He took his meal away to share it with sister Jade but forgot to turn off
the cooker.
Wiebke said: "I woke up with my dog, Tyson, licking my face and jumping up and down.
"The room
was filled with smoke and I couldn't breathe."
Wiebke battled through the flames to reach the kitchen.
She
went on:"The flames were hitting the tops of the units. I was shocked when I saw it was the wok which was on fire."
She
then threw the wok out and rushed her children to safety before the fire brigaed arrived.
The mum added: "If it wasn't
for Tyson, I wouldn't be here. Maybe it was some Chinese luck since it is the Year of the Dog."
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01/28/05
Hometown Hero--Otis
Chuck Thompson and Otis
It's often said that dogs are man's best friend. You'll agree after you meet Otis, an eight-month-old red nose
pit bull. A breed that gets a lot of bad press.
But this dog loves everybody he meets. Last Wednesday night, he proved
just how much he loved his family.
Chuck Thompson and his wife Rebecca fell asleep watching television. Around 2:30am,
Otis let them know something was wrong.
"Otis come through the house barking and growling and raising all kinds of
sand," said Thompson. "He wouldn't leave me alone in the living room."
Otis was relentless, running back and forth
between the living room and the bedroom where two of the family's five children were asleep.
"Once I woke up, all
of a sudden I could smell it," said Thompson. "It was a surge protector in our twin girls' bedroom and it just before catching
on fire."
Thompson quickly pulled the plug.
For a breed of dog that seldom gets any good press, for this life-saving
pooch, the media attention this time is good. Otis, you are this week's WTOC Hometown Hero.
If you'd like to nominate
a Hometown Hero, you can drop us a line at the station: PO Box 8086, Savannah, GA 31412, or email rwallace@wtoc.com.
Reported
by: Ron Wallace, rwallace@wtoc.com
Pit Bull Saves Man's Life, Dies a Hero
April 26, 2001 Belmont, North Carolina, USA
Good
thing Gaston County, North Carolina doesn't have a ban on pit bulls, or this man wouldn't be alive this morning.
Steve
Carpacca, 41, was asleep in his mobile home at 3:15am when his pit bull ran into the bedroom and started barking frantically.
The man awoke to a room filled with smoke and immediately ran outside. When he realized that his dog had not followed
him, he rushed back into the blazing trailer, armed with two 5-pound fire extinguishers, but the fire was already out of control.
Four fire departments responded to the call, and it took a total of 15 firefighters to douse the flames. The dog never
made it out; fire crews found the little hero's body in the hall just outside Mr. Carpacca's bedroom.
Mr. Carpacca
was devastated at the loss of his dog. "The dog saved his life, absolutely," said Chief Dicky Harris with the Community Volunteer
Fire Department. "If the dog hadn't been in the house, [Mr. Carpacca] would have been overcome by smoke." It is believed that
the fire was caused by an electric heater in the kitchen. Mr. Carpacca never heard any of the smoke detectors sound.
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