ANDERSON, Ind. —
Shelli Hameline figures her dog, McKale, earned a big steak dinner Thursday morning.
When the gas furnace in Hameline’s home at 1429 Chester St. caught fire about 5:45 a.m., the 6-year-old German shepherd jumped on the bed where she was asleep and alerted her to the emergency.
“He woke me up licking my face and scratching my arm. He knew something was dreadfully wrong,” Hameline said.
She thought at first that McKale needed to go outside but quickly realized there was a fire. “I couldn’t see anything in the house the smoke was so thick.”
Hameline grabbed her phone and dashed outside with McKale and her other two dogs, Star and Ziggy, and called 911. When she returned briefly to fetch McKale’s leash, Hameline saw flames licking up through a heating vent just a few feet from her bed.
“If I had been in there much longer, I don’t think I would have made it,” she said.
Hameline said she has smoke detectors but took them down while renovating parts of the house.
Anderson Fire Department Chief Phillip R. Rogers said the blaze started in a 30-year-old gas furnace in the basement. The exact cause is still under investigation. He estimated the fire caused $10,000 of damage to Hameline’s home.
Firefighter Shawn Dietzen suffered minor injuries to one hand when McKale escaped from a neighbor’s garage and bit him, Rogers said.
Chief arson investigator Jeff Freeman said there were no hard feelings against McKale, though.
“He was in protective mode,” Freeman said of McKale. “I can’t imagine what he thought when the firefighters arrived with all their gear.”
Strangers were still coming and going Thursday afternoon, adding to McKale’s stress as Hameline began the process of cleaning up. Two restoration workers were assessing the damage and installing dehumidifiers and fans in the basement to remove an inch from the floor. As they were getting their equipment set, an Anderson city official showed up.
Amid the turmoil, all McKale wanted to do was play with and chew his “frisbee,” which actually is a child’s sledding snow saucer.
Contact Stuart Hirsch: 640-4861, stu.hirsch@
heraldbulletin.com
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Shelli Hameline with her dog, McKale, who saved her by waking her after her furnace caught fire early Thursday morning. John P. Cleary
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