CHEYENNE – The old adage goes that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
For Jessie Harrison, that shape was Mikey, the small gray Shih Tzu that’s been her companion for more than a decade. Monday afternoon, that friend turned hero, alerting her to the flames that were licking the vinyl siding on the west side of her home at 7915 E. Pershing Blvd.
“He was sitting right there with me in the living room when he started raising Cain,” Harrison said as she sat inside the side door of an AMR ambulance with Mikey standing over her right shoulder.
“At first, I came out to see what was going on, and then I called 911. ... They said, ‘Are you out?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m out. But the only thing is my little dog is in the house.’ She said, ‘Don’t go back in there.’”
After arriving on the scene shortly after 2:47 p.m., firefighters were able to rescue Mikey unharmed from the white ranch-style home with red decorative shutters.
Manny Muzquiz, operations chief for Laramie County Fire District 2, said his department and others were able to limit the damage to one front room that Harrison called “the music room.” Agencies that responded to a mutual aid call included Laramie County Fire District 1, Cheyenne Fire Rescue, F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the Wyoming Air National Guard fire brigade.
“The rest of the home is in very good shape. So all of her belongings are still (unharmed), and not even a whole lot of smoke damage throughout the house,” Muzquiz said. “We were able to get the fire out within minutes of arrival. ... The biggest struggle was getting all the fires in (the surrounding) shops put out and the grass fire around the building.”
Muzquiz said it appears the fire started when a neighbor was sawing wood with a gas-powered chainsaw. Apparently the gasoline spilled out of the saw, and then a spark ignited the fuel, which started the fire.
As firefighters continued to mop up hot spots Monday afternoon, Harrison’s daughter, Kathy Julius, listed all that was lost in the blaze.
“I have antique cars in all the gara-ges. The boat’s gone, the motor home’s gone,” she said. “We had a Firebird and a T-Bird and a Camaro and a Wildcat ...”
But Muzquiz said it could have been much worse.
“Luckily, Christensen Road to the east was all kind of torn up and dirt, so (the fire) wasn’t able to travel across the road, and they got a pretty good stop on the grass fire, as well,” he said.
Which led him to a warning for all Laramie County residents.
“This a good reminder for people to keep the grass around their homes short,” Muzquiz said. “If there is a fire like that, what helps us and what helps your home is to keep a good, defensible space around your house. That way the fire can’t burn right up against your home and cause your home to start on fire.
“Also, if you are doing cutting or burning on your property, to make sure you have water readily accessible to put out any fire that may ignite unintentionally.”
Muzquiz said Laramie County sheriff’s deputies were investigating the fire, but he believes the unidentified man operating the chainsaw was issued a citation. That could not be confirmed by press time Monday, however.
And although he couldn’t place a dollar value on the items lost in Monday’s fire, Muzquiz agreed the toll could have been much higher.
“Yeah, I don’t think (Harrison) was aware that there was a fire, and the little dog got her attention and got her outside,” he said. “That’s happened quite frequently in my time, in my 19 years as a firefighter. Those animals are just smart and good to have around.
“We’re just glad we were able to get in there and get him out for her.”
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