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Dog helps Orange County family save their home during early morning fire

By
Michele Gile
Michele Gile
Michele joined KCAL9 in 1990 as the Orange County reporter and she has loved it there ever since! She reports from the field for both KCAL9 and CBS2.
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Michele Gile

/ CBS LA

Fillmore, a 3-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, is being praised as a hero after he alerted his family to a fire raging in their Orange County garage. 

The massive flames and smoke filled the Dalis family's garage early Wednesday morning while everyone was asleep, except for Fillmore. 

"Continuous barking," homeowner Tom Dalis recalled. "I said maybe there's something out there. We get coyotes."

After waking up, Dalis' wife said she saw a red light and ran out thinking something was wrong at their neighbors' home. But the fire was much closer, consuming their garage and minutes away from reaching the main house, where Dalis, his wife and mother-in-law live. 

"He was going crazy," Dalis said. "It was popping. It was very loud. I don't know if the windows of the car were popping."

Everyone agreed that Fillmore's persistent barking served as a smoke alarm, alerting the family to the danger in their garage. Dalis said he immediately ran and grabbed his hose, spraying down the flames as firefighters arrived. 

"Without him, we probably could have lost the house if we were not woken up," Dalis said. "He saved our house and potentially our lives."

Smoke alarms in garages aren't legally required, but experts said it's not a bad idea to have one. Crews believe the fire was electrical.

"He was scared because of the noise and stuff but happy after that," Dalis said. 

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