Dog credited with alerting family to fire

PUBLISHED: July 29, 2006

By Gordon Wilczynski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

A 9-year-old Boxer named Buddy is being credited by Roseville fire officials for saving the life of a Roseville woman and her 14-year-old daughter.

Buddy, a boxer, was awakened at 6 a.m. on Friday when he smelled smoke in the second floor of their home at 25127 Leach. The boxer immediately alerted his owner and her daughter and they ran out of the house after unsuccessfully trying to put the fire out.

The woman and daughter, Adrienne and Kandice Peruzzi, got out of the burning house moments before fire trucks arrived, Fire Chief Ben Foronato said. Roseville firefighters contained the fire to the upper level of the single family residential bungalow.

"The fire got up into the attic and crossed the eaves and soffets on the house," said Fortunato. "The mother and daughter were sleeping at the time the fire started and were saved by Buddy getting them up."

Fortunato praised fire Lt. Jim O'Sullivan and his crew for containing it to the bedroom and floor where it started.

Roseville Fire Marshal Dave Glancy said the fire was first noticed in a bedroom where the daughter, Kandice, 14, and Buddy were sleeping. The girl's bedding caught on fire and it could have been disastrous had the dog been elsewhere in the house, Glancy said.

The fire actually started in a loose electrical connection where the window air conditioning unit was plugged in, Glancy added.

"Anyone who has a loose duplex outfit (double electrical outlet in the wall) that won't grip a plug properly should have it removed because it's a fire hazard," said Glancy. "In this case the connection was loose and heat built up to a point where it ignited the bedding."

Foronato said damage to the house is estimated at $20,000. He said the house will be boarded up until it is repaired.

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