axkurtz's Blog

I was sent to cover a house fire in Chesapeake on Tuesday afternoon.  Upon arriving, I quickly scanned the scene.  I noticed some teens in the street clutching what looked like tee shirts.  Without going any further, I started rolling on the what was happening.  Then it became apparent.  They were holding what used to be close family members-their pets.
 
It was devastating.  My heart sunk.  Then I learned that three cats and two dogs died from smoke inhalation.  My heart sunk even lower.  I walked around to the other side of the house where I found two women talking next door.  I approached them slowly and asked if they knew what had happened.  One woman told me she was the wife of the man who was in the house at the time of the fire.  She did not want to speak on camera, but she gave me a brief synopsis of what had occured.      
 
Her husband was home alone, asleep.  A fire started in a room in the house.  Samantha, one of two dogs, came upstairs and woke him up by barking.  Somehow, Samantha or Sam as her owner affectionately called her, went back downstairs and the smoke overtook her.  Firefighters arrived on scene quickly and tried to revive her with a new oxygen mask they recently received, a special mask made for animals.    They did all they could but it was too late, Sam passed away.      
 
Buddy Hayes, the neighbor next door whom the wife was talking with said that she didn't mind talking with me.  I posted the story below for you to see.  As a pet owner myself, I felt that the story needed to be done.  Unfortunately, it did not make air that night due to various reasons.  I went home that night,  hugged my dog and told her how much I love her.  You never know how much they're willing to give for you.    
 
http://wavy.com/Global/category.asp?C=106573