Fall 2017 Saber Tails 13
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
Fire In The Attic - Our Little Heroes
By Matt Worthy
It was Monday, April 8, 2013. The PBGVCA National & Re-
gional Specialty in Houston had just ended two days pre-
viously. Paul and I were both exhausted having spent the
last several days setting up, working reception, attending
various events and finally tearing down post event on
Sunday, April 7th. Paul went back to work and I stayed
home, taking a day to recuperate and get some things
done around the house.
We had just fired our house keeper and I was planning to
spend the day cleaning the house. Since Paul and I were
usually at work when the housekeeper cleaned, our two
PBGVs, Brie and Beasley, normally spent cleaning days
crated in the ‘dog room.’ Not knowing how they would
react when I turned on the vacuum, I noticed the girls did
not stay in the room with me when I was vacuuming. The
girls shortly started to bark in a back hallway. Thinking
this was their normal vacuuming behavior, I continued on
finishing the chore.
When I turned off the vacuum and moved into the kitch-
en to start doing the dishes, the dogs didn’t follow me. I
then thought they must be out of water since one of their
water bowls was in that back hallway where they contin-
ued to bark in a demanding tone that wasn’t quite nor-
mal. I started down the hall and detected an odd smell.
I immediately thought that one of the dogs had gone to
the bathroom in the house. Although this would have
been very odd since the girls hadn’t had an accident in
the house in years, I kept looking down expecting to find
my “surprise.” By the time I had rounded the corner I had
found nothing on the floor. I also found their water bowl
completely full.
Of course, since we all have regular conversations with
our Peebs, I looked down and asked, “What do you want?”
fully expecting an answer. It took me a few seconds to
realize that they were sitting on their butts looking up
at the attic access
door and bark-
ing expectantly.
When I looked
closer to see
what they were
barking at...that’s
when I noticed a
whisp of smoke
coming from the
attic access door.
I opened the at-
tic access a crack
for a peek and
saw that most of
the attic was en-
gulfed in flames!
I immediately
grabbed Beas-
ley and Brie and
rushed them
next door to our
neighbor’s home.
When I was run-
ning back to the
house, I looked
up to the roof
area and could
see the flames ris-
ing up through
and well past the
roof of the house.