Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Well, got an e-mail with update and pictures from my brother last night.  Looks like everyone is OK, and the missing cat came out from hiding.  Thanks for your prayers everyone!~  Here's what he had to say:

"Well, things got a little hot in scenic San Martin yesterday! I'm emailing just to let everyone know that we're OK.
 
I was at work about 1120 and the 911 lines all lit up. Officers in the street radioed that there was a huge fire at the south end of town. Sandi called my cphone to tell me there was a fire next door to the house and I'd better get home. She'd been watering in one of the gardens when she heard an explosion at the old ranch next door to us to the north. She looked and saw a huge jet of smoke and flame shoot up into the sky. She called 911 and then me.
 
Pretty much before she could do anything, the fire was at our yard. She tried to get our dum dog, Yo Yo out of his kennel, but the heat and flames were too much for her. She burned her hand on the kennel gate but couldn't get it open. Yo Yo had run underneath a storeage shed where he maintains his burrow. There was nothing she could do.
 
Firefighters arrived and pulled into the yard to start laying hose. A passerby, "Mike" stopped and started helping round up our geese and ducks. All the cats were hiding.
 
I left the station and could immediately see a dark plume coming from the area of the house, about 2 miles away. Not a good sign. I got the the house in about a minute and couldn't see anything from the street. The barn was enclosed in smoke and flame and the house was just a shadow through the smoke. Fire was having the power lines cut down because they told me the barn and the house were going to go. They didn't think they could save them.
 
I started evacuating the ducks and geese. I tried to go back to the kennel, but couldn't get within 50'. The flames, smoke and heat were too much. I was sure Yo Yo was gone. I went into the house and couldn't even see across the rooms clearly, there was so much smoke. All the cats were hiding in or under the house! The only one we could get was Mr. Rumples. He's deaf, so he was just sleeping in his usual place, a doll baby buggy! He didn't have a clue anything was going on.
 
We got out of the house and stood by in the street, pretty upset. Not much you can say and nothing you can do. The pumper truck was running out of water and they were preparing to move back from the fire. The house and the barn appeared to be lost. The CDF helicopter was now on scene and dumping next to the barn. A chance!
 
A neighbor came running up to me to tell me that "Mike" was having a heart attack! The poor guy that stopped out of the goodness of his heart to help with our animals was paying for it in the worse way. I was sick and ran over to where they were loading him into an ambulance. I started crying and prayed harder and faster than I have almost ever before. He told me he was OK, he would be fine, but I just couldn't believe it. They closed the doors and off they went. It turned out that he had a heart condition that was exacerbated by the stress. They treated him gave him drugs and he was released within hours. Thank you, God!
 
Well, as Mom would say, "short story long" or "readers digress." The fire was under control by about 1:30 PM. I was able to go to Yo Yo's burrow and asked the firefighters to help pull him out so I could bury him before Sandi saw him. The area was still flaming, hot and smokey. The paint on the shed was melted and sometimes self igniting. They sprayed it down and one of them crawled over the embers and felt underneath. He felt dog and started to pull poor Yo Yo out. Suddenly, he lost the leg! Yo Yo pulled away from him. Dummy was still alive! We were able to get him out and I picked him up. He was muddy, smokey and had trouble breathing, but I could hear his heart and it sounded strong. He was scared to death almost and as docile as I've ever seen him. I carried him to an animal control truck and had them rush him to the vet while Sandi called ahead. They gave him O2 and antibiotics and it looks like he'll be OK. Thank you, God, for my dum dog!
 
The fire was finally out by 3:00 PM. It was probably started by an evicted tenant of my neighbor. We only lost a few hundred feet of fence, the kennel, maybe some stuff in the shed and some stuff in the corner of the barn. The firefighters were able to save both the barn and the house. My third: thank you, God. The smoke and soot in the house and barn are considerable, but I'm happy enough that's all it is.
 
Spent today cleaning up and talking to insurance people. Sandi is happy as can be and that makes me happy. The dog is still doing OK, but not out of the vet until Saturday. It all happened so fast that I'm still stunned. We keep the weeds, etc. down around the property all the time and have a fire retardent roof. The barn is almost all corigated metal. I guess all of this means not too much. I'm sure counting my blessings and saying prayers of thanks."

Well, finally got to talk to my brother a short time ago.  All animals are accounted for except for one cat, and he is one who likes to hide anyway.  They expect that he'll show up in a day or two.  Yoyo is at the vet's being treated for smoke inhalation, and they also think he may have damaged his heart due to the heat and stress.  It took the firefighters some time to cool down the Cargo Container he was hiding under in order for them to be able to rescue him.  My SIL is crushed, the heat was too hot for her to even open the gate to his kennel, so he could escape.  Aparently their property caught fire quickly when a propane tank exploded at the other property.

Oh, and can we also keep a good samaritan in our prayers?  A man pulled off the highway when he saw the fire, and drove into the neighborhood.  He helped SIL catch and conatin all the geese, then colapsed with a heart attack~!  He is at the hospital and should recover with time.

PD thinks fire was probably arson, a tenant had been notified of eviction on the neighboring property earlier in the day, and there had been 2 suspicious fires on the property in the last couple of months.

Thanks again everyone~!  It's been a really stressful day, but, we're thankful that my Bro and SIL are OK and that the animals will most likely all be OK. 

Wow~!  Don't they all look great~!  I never realized you had to shave hairless dogs either LOL

Love the pic of Jigsaw and Zero.  Gotta love them Bully mushes they almost look like they forgot to put their teeth in this morning

This fire is going on in San Martin, California right now.  It went across the back of my brothers property, and damaged his barn and the dog's run.  Yoyo (PB) hid under the large Truck Container my bro has, and watching the live video looks like it will be OK, but, obviously is going to be tramatized.  In addition to Yoyo, my bro has multiple ducks, geese, and a s**tload of cats both indoor and outdoor.

Can you keep them and all their animals in your prayers for us? 

http://www.nbc11.com/news/13698165/detail.html

Thanks everyone
Alyce

On the Horse Forum, they said it equals 267 lbs.  And, yes, he does look too heavy.

My Husky/GSD/Wolf, Jasper hated water, and would not go in no matter what.  He would stand at the shore and whine/bark if we got in.

Woody couldn't really care less about water, its the Fishies that he wants 

Maple was afraid of water until she saw my BIL's lab/rottie fetch a stick in the water, then, something clicked.  She went in (ears pinned back--her "work" mode), swam out to the stick, and came right back to shore stickless LOL  Now, she'll go in, but, she's always in work mode, not play or enjoyment.

Maybe if Zeus sees other dogs swimming, he'll get the point?  Or, he might have been worried since the kids were afraid.

He's adorable Kelly~!  Makes me miss when my boys were that young~! Enjoy him while he's small, it will only feel like a week or 2 and he'll be grown 

It must be a girl dog thing, Maple wants to drive too 
I love the picture of them in the field.  Must be heaven for dogs~!