Pooch saves couple from house fire

Tommy, a 74-pound, 18-month-old blue heeler mix, is always starved for attention, and while sweet, he can be a bit of a troublemaker.

“He still has some puppy in him,” said 23-year-old Jon Blankenship, Tommy’s owner.

Tommy’s barking was a frequent occurrence because of his overprotective nature. That overprotectiveness is what saved the lives of Blankenship and his girlfriend.

On Sunday, Blankenship’s girlfriend, Mandy Powers, 20, was helping Blankenship, Tommy and Blankenship’s 2-year-old mutt, Susie, move into their rental house on Sandifer Avenue.

That evening, Blankenship wanted to put the dogs in the basement for the night because his room was too small. He thought the kennels, which the dogs typically slept in, would take up too much space in a bedroom that was just big enough for his full-size bed. But Powers persuaded Blankenship to keep the dogs in the bedroom.

That turned out to be a lifesaving decision.

At about 1 a.m. Blankenship and Powers were awakened by Tommy’s barking.

“I heard some banging noise and thought someone had broken in,” Powers said.

When Blankenship opened his bedroom door to investigate, he was greeted by a cloud of smoke and quickly realized the house was on fire. The couple managed to break open the bedroom window and escape with Susie and Tommy.

“Animals are more sensitive to their surroundings,” Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said. “Oftentimes, the toxic gases in the fire put people to sleep, and they slowly suffocate.”

According to the Columbia Fire Department, a candle in the bathroom started the fire. The house’s fire alarm did not go off because the battery was disconnected. The fire is estimated to have caused about $20,000 worth of damage.

“All that matters is that we and the dogs got out,” Powers said. “I didn’t really care about anything else in the house.”

Blankenship said the bathroom was badly burned, and much of the house was damaged by smoke. The firefighters also had to make a hole in the ceiling to make sure the fire wouldn’t spread to the attic. Despite the damage to the house, most of Blankenship’s property was unharmed.

Blankenship said he had just moved in on Saturday and hadn’t even signed a lease. He said the house’s power had been turned off because the previous resident did not pay the electricity bill. The couple was using candles to help light the house until the power was turned on.

“It was just a bunch of coincidences,” Powers said. “If Tommy hadn’t woken us up, we wouldn’t have known about the fire.”

Tommy, the bigger of the two dogs, has always been overprotective of the couple, barking at the slightest noise, Powers said.

“We used to get mad at him,” Powers said. “But I guess it was a good thing in this case.”