Dog returns looking for Oak Grove family displaced by house fire

 

An Athens family that escaped a house fire early Monday believed one of their dogs might have been lost in the blaze, but the dog showed up later at the burned home looking for its owners, an official said.

A fire that began in a utility room of a home at 25398 Oak Grove Road, northeast of Athens, triggered smoke detectors that awakened the Ernest Moyers family about 1 a.m., said Harold King , chief of Oak Grove-Thach Volunteer Fire Department.

“When we arrived, the home was fully involved — flames and smoke were coming out of the windows,” the chief said Monday. “They all got out safe, and they thought they got all of their pets out — they had three dogs — but one got loose and they thought it may have gone back inside. We didn’t know if it ran off or if it was lost in the fire. But it showed up back at the house later this morning.”

Firefighters do not know what sparked the fire, which gutted the single-story oak home with an attic, King said. Family members believe the water heater may have been the source.

The Moyers family, whose home was destroyed, planned to stay with the wife’s sister in Ardmore, King said. They had not contacted the Limestone County chapter of the American Red Cross as of Monday afternoon, Director Kathy Harland said.

It took firefighters, including 12 from Oak Grove-Thach, eight to 10 from Elkmont and six from Ardmore, until about 5 a.m. to extinguish the fire. The floors, walls and ceilings of the 1928 home were made of rough-cut oak under wallboard, which is difficult to put out, the chief said.

“We had to call in Elkmont and then Ardmore brought in water support but we didn’t need it,” King said.

Firefighters returned to the scene this afternoon to douse some hotspots, he said.

 

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