30 May,2014 05:03 AM IST | | Agencies
Pooch sets house on fire after accidentally switching on the cooker to try and get some freshly baked pastries
to satisfy her cravings for midnight munching
London: A family had a lucky escape after their dog started a fire by accidentally turning the oven on. Tia, a seven-year-old Dogue de Bordeaux, sparked an emergency after she tried to get to the meat-filled pastries in the middle of the night.
Representation Pic/Thinkstock
She could smell two corned beef pies, which had been baked by her owner Adam Spurr, from Hartlepool, and placed on the back of the hob. She tried to get at them by jumping up at the oven, but she accidentally pushed one of the hob switches with her paw, and ignited one of the rings.
It was Adam's partner Emma Llewellyn (25) smelled the fumes and woke him up. Emma raced to get their children Kai (7), and Theo (3), out of their beds, while Adam (31) went downstairs to check.
He opened the kitchen door of their home and was met with plumes of thick smoke that were coming from the pies on the oven. Adam managed to fight his way through the wall of smoke and removed the smouldering pies from the kitchen.
The family called 999 and within minutes fire brigade and ambulance crews arrived outside their residence. The paramedics monitored Adam because he has inhaled a lot of smoke.
Adam said, "We've been very lucky. We were shocked when it dawned on us what was happening, I'm just so glad that we're all alright because it could have been a different story. I'm really surprised Tia is still alive because the smoke in the kitchen was unbelievable, you basically couldn't see in front of you at all.
Tia jumps up at the workbenches all the time, that's why the pies were at the back, covered in tea towels, but she's obviously still had a go at reaching them. I was gutted about my pies.
Emma said, "With our cooker, all you have to do is press the knob to switch it on. Tia put her paw on it and turned it on. I thought I was dreaming when I first smelled the smoke."
The firefighters checked the house over and replaced a smoke alarm that had stopped working just two weeks before. Adam and Emma say they will remove the knobs from the cooker when it is not in use.
