Pet plays hero, saves family from fire

A family of three barely escaped alive from a fire at this house on Kilby Drive on Saturday morning.

By Martin van den Hemel - Richmond Review
Published: February 02, 2009
Updated: February 03, 2009

A Richmond family has their beloved 14-year-old Shar-Pei Suzie to thank after they narrowly escaped an overnight house blaze that claimed their pet's life.

On Saturday, around 5:30 a.m., a fire started inside the garage of their house on the 10000 block of Kilby Drive, near No. 4 and Cambie roads.

A couple and their adult son, who spoke exclusively to The Richmond Review Monday but didn't want their names published, were sound asleep at the time when Suzie played the part of hero.

From inside the garage where she slept, Suzie's last few barks were enough to rouse her master.

He and his wife got up and they were greeted by a light fog inside the house and went downstairs to check the kitchen for the source of the smoke.

It wasn't until they opened the door to the garage that they saw black fumes and felt a powerful wave of heat.

They eventually exited the front door, but then realized that their 22-year-old son was still inside, in an upstairs bedroom at the back of the house.

Despite the acrid thick smoke that accumulated at the ceiling, the man's wife went up the stairs and blindly made her way to his bedroom, but had to turn back because she wasn't able to breath, barely making her way to the front door.

Meanwhile, her husband had re-entered the burning home and tried to open the garage door, where Suzie slept.

He too was nearly overcome by the toxic smoke, and if not for his wife's calls, may not have made it out alive.

As he crawled toward the front door, he heard her shouts and she reached out and took his hand and helped pull him to safety.

She then went around to the back of the house, and shouted at her son's bedroom window, in a desperate attempt to wake him.

Meanwhile, the young man sleeping upstairs was stirred by his breathing difficulties, the smell and taste of the smoke constricting his airway.

"I didn't know what was happening."

Still in a sleepy daze, he opened his bedroom door, and saw nothing but grey and then felt what he described as a wall of heat.

He then felt around his desk for his cell phone, and tried to call 911, but he found he couldn't speak, barely able to utter the first number in his address.

He then made his way to the window, heard his mother yelling, and slipped outside and onto a roof and then jumped down to the ground.

On Monday, the family expressed their thanks to the emergency workers who helped them through the shock of the fire, from the firefighters to the paramedics to the hospital staff and social services volunteers.

"Life is so fragile," the woman said.

"We all would have been killed if she hadn't gotten out of the house," her husband said.

All three were taken to Richmond Hospital and were treated for smoke inhalation.

They have been staying in a local hotel, and are looking for alternate accommodations while their home is being assessed and repaired.

Richmond Fire-Rescue's Dave Mcdonald said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Fire crews told the family that Suzie succumbed to smoke inhalation, but not before letting out a final few desperate barks which saved those she lived for.