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Readers report: Dog may have saved three lives at Le Roy house fire

By Howard B. Owens

Just after midnight, the Le Roy fire department was called to a structure fire at 8484 E. Main St. Road where upon arrival they found the house fully engulfed, according to reader Gary Spencer.

Lorie Longhany also e-mailed reports of the fire.

Neighbors from across the streets dog barked, woke owner up, he crossed the street and alerted the homeowners.  The husband went back in after car keys and he was burned and taken to the hospital -- wife and daughter also taken in for smoke inhalation.  House is a total loss.

Longhany, who lives on Lime Rock, said units from Le Roy, Stafford, Caledonia, Bergen and Pavilion responded. Route 5 was closed and traffic was sent around York Road and Church Road.

Also from Lorie: 

The hero in this fire was a dog named Rocket that is no stranger to alerting danger.  A couple years back this dog was out of his yard and barking around our friends pool.  His owner was calling him to come home.  He wouldn't -- kept barking around the pool.  When his owner went to retrieve him, he found that in the pool was my neighbors and good friends dog, Buddy who would have drown.  Last night, from what my neighbors first hand account, Rocket's barking alerted his owners to the burning house across the street.  The neighbor saw the flames and ran across the street and woke up the homeowners.  That dog may have saved three lives last night.

That's all the information we have on the fire at this time.

UPDATE: Lorie sends along this note this morning:

We took a ride by this morning, and as I said, we kept away from the scene and stood in our friends driveway after being awoken to all the commotion, but it appears that the structure is heavily damaged, but not burned to the ground by any means.  The fire fighters did a tremendous job.  It is really amazing the organizational skills that these volunteers put into play as they are battling a fire.  We watched in amazement.  Probably a good many of them were there till the early hours and then had to get up and go to their paying jobs this morning.

Also, she "cautions" that her account of Rocket is third person, having been told by a neighbor who spoke with Rocket's owner.

UPDATE II: WBTA reports:

The home was occupied by 54-year-old Rita Teeter, her 54-year-old boyfriend Daniel Bovee and her 25-year-old daughter, Jennifer Coombs.

Rita and Jennifer were treated at Strong Hospital for smoke inhalation and released.

Bovee was admitted to the hospital in satisfactory condition with burns to his face, head and feet.

Gary Spencer

I am glad everybody is safe, while listening to the scanner this sounded like a very scary fire. Thank you Lorie for the full report! Somebody ought to get that dog a T-bone steak for dinner tonight, he is a real hero!

May 21, 2009, 7:50am Permalink
Lorie Longhany

After Rocket saved Buddy from drowning in the pool, my good friend Kelly (Buddy's human) showered Rocket with dog treats and Rocket's humans with gifts of gratitude, too. Buddy would have surely been a goner -- by the time Rocket's human got to the pool, Buddy was exhausted and ready to succumb.

Rocket seems to have taken on the role of the neighborhood safety patrol dog. Every so often you see him making the rounds through the neighborhood. He is a large yellow lab mix and appears somewhat menacing looking because he has these very light blue or greenish eyes, but he is proving to be quite the observant dog. Kind of like having Lassie live in the neighborhood.

May 21, 2009, 8:15am Permalink

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