Dogs help Walton family escape fire

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June 4, 2012

Dogs help Walton family escape fire

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Mon Jun 04, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Dogs barking awoke a Walton man who escaped with his wife and two children from a burning house at about midnight Saturday, a fire investigator said Sunday afternoon.

No one was hurt, but the wood frame house at 37 Townsend St. in the village was heavily damaged, fire officials said.

James Olmstead, deputy fire coordinator for Delaware County and a member of the Walton Fire Department, said Anthony Wood heard the dogs barking, went downstairs and saw the fire. He returned upstairs to get his family, and they left the house.

Olmstead said Wood, his wife, Gina, and their children, David, 6, and Alyssa, 4, were "very lucky," and the dogs were "very instrumental" in alerting the family to danger.

The family is staying with Woods' parents in Walton, Olmstead said. American Red Cross officials were at the scene.

A telephone message left at a Walton number for a Wood household at 6:30 p.m. wasn't returned by 8 p.m.

Walton Fire Chief Bob Brown said the original fire call reported that victims were inside the burning house. But within minutes, the Walton Police Department and firefighters had established that tenants had escaped, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, fire officials said, and the identify of the owner, who may be from downstate, also must be verified. A sign on the lawn said the house was for sale, officials said.

Brown said the family had two dogs in the house. One escaped, he said, but crews don't know if the other dog ran away or perished.

About 60 firefighters from Walton, Delhi, Trout Creek and Franklin were at the scene of the fire, which was reported by several callers at about 11:50 p.m. Saturday, Olmstead said.

Olmstead said crews used water from village fire hydrants and quickly had the fire under control. Firefighters were at the scene until about 6:50 a.m.

The house is heavily damaged inside, especially in the back, according to Olmstead, who said he would be surprised if it could be restored.

When crews arrived at the scene, flames were intense and rolling through the two-story house, which had a full attic, Brown said, and extensive fire could be seen at a back corner of the structure.

"We pretty much knocked it down from outside," Brown said.

Crews did a good job not only knocking down flames in the Townsend Street house but also protecting two houses and a single-car garage nearby, he said.

One room wasn't damaged by fire, Brown said, and the family has been able to retrieve some personal possessions.

Brown said he didn't know if there were fire detectors in the home, but if there were they probably melted off.