My friend's beautiful new house just burned to the ground! But all are okay, including the dog.

[pink-o]

My friend, her fiance and her 16 year old daughter were awakened at 3 am on Sunday morning by a neighbor banging on their door. The neighbor saw the house burning from his window (still not sure why he was awake at that hour) and ran over to alert her family. They grabbed their robes, ran out and jumped in the car--and by the time they got to the end of the driveway, the house was engulfed in flames! Nothing was saved, and the fire inspectors told them it could be weeks before they can sift through the debris to find the cause of the blaze.

When I heard about this, I felt such sorrow: this was an amazing house and they were so excited to buy it--they only moved in 8 months ago! Of course, that pales against the fact that no one was hurt: all things, including houses, can be replaced. But what freaked us all out was how quickly the house burned. They barely escaped, and a few minutes later might have yielded a very different result.

So one reason they got out so fast was because they kept the dog close to them at night. If they had crated her and kept her in a separate room, my friend would have gone after her and maybe not gotten out of the house in time. I know I would never leave my dog or cat in a burning building, never mind my own safety!

I've always let my animals sleep on the bed, and now I'm more determined than ever! So after hearing this frightening story, I came away with one thought: Keep your pets close at night, you never know when you need to grab them and run!