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Dog that saves family dies in house fire

By Tory Dunnan - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

HATTON, AL (WAFF) - A fire that destroyed a family's home occurred on Lawrence County Road 46 in Hatton overnight Tuesday. The family lost much more than property.

Mike Crawford walked around what's left of his burned house Tuesday with his head down.

"I couldn't go back in," Crawford said. "I couldn't get back in the front door. Not even a foot. It was just too intense...the heat and that smoke. (It was) completely engulfed. and there was nothing that we could do but just get out."

Now there isn't even a way to get in or out. For hours, Mt. Hope and Hatton firefighters fought from all corners. But the first alert didn't come from a smoke alarm.

"We heard the dog scratching on our bedroom door and I was pretty much in the middle of a deep sleep when it happened," said Crawford. "My son was over here in this bedroom where them flames were still shooting up."

A family survived, but their dream house went up in flames.

"It's devastating," Crawford said. "You know we built this house, and we've been here for three years and totally remodeled it ya' know, and this is where we were going to be you know. We lost our dog in there. We couldn't find her and she burned up in the fire."

Ironically, the dog's house is the only structure standing. But man's best friend and in this case, a family's lifesaver is gone.

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