Dog Wakes Sleeping Man As Fire Overcomes Peninsula Home

ATHERTON, CA — A four-legged companion was really man's best friend when a fire ripped through his Atherton home this week. The pup woke its human before an alarm could even sound, helping the man to get out of the smoke-filled structure, fire officials say.

"We understand the family dog alerted the occupant before the alarm sounded and we hope he is doing better after inhaling toxic smoke," Menlo Park Fire Protection District Fire Chief Schapelhouman said.

The man was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, but was expected to recover, according to the fire department. The dog was uninjured and no one else was home.

The fire broke out around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday on Belbrook Way, in the area of Alameda De Las Pulgas and Walsh Road, reports indicate. The one-alarm fire at the three-bedroom home caused roughly $220,000 in damage.

When crews got to the scene, they found the fire had started in a carport and spread into the home's entryway and a bedroom — as well as a patch of vegetation nearby, Schapelhouman said. The man had apparently run back into the structure, perhaps to grab something, and inhaled more smoke, the chief said. Responding paramedics treated him and he was transported to the hospital.

The house sustained roughly $170,000 in structural damage and roughly $50,000 worth of contents were destroyed.

"The firefighters did a good job of stopping the fire spread inside the building and outside into vegetation that could easily spread and become its own problem," Schapelhouman said in a statement. "Fortunately, our
firefighters made sure that did not occur."

Images courtesy: Menlo Park Fire Protection District