Dogs and owner rescued from house fire in Leicester

A trio of dogs, as well as their owner, were rescued from a Leicester house last week, after the owner ran back into the burning building in search of his beloved canines.

Neighbours looked on in fright as the fire grew stronger and smoke poured out onto the street in Downham Avenue, Beaumont. After an emergency call, six firefighters swarmed to the property in an attempt to prevent the fire from spreading. However, little did they know that they would have to rescue not only the animals inside the property, but also the owner.

Firefighters made their way into the semi-detached property by entering the house via the window on the first floor. Although the thick smoke made it difficult for firefighters to see, the male owner was spotted close to the back door of the house. During his time in the house, the owner had been trying to navigate his way through clouds of smoke to find three of his pet dogs. Luckily, firefighters managed to save the dogs before flames ripped through the ground floor.

Firefighter John Ong said:

“The neighbours weren’t sure if anyone was inside, so we sent in six guys to scan the house.”

After resting in Leicester Royal Infirmary, Nottingham City Hospital treated the property owner on Monday, December 10, for smoke inhalation and minor burns. The dogs were slightly startled after the incident but were unharmed. Despite the fact that nobody was seriously hurt during the fire, it is clear that it shook up the community. A 52-year-old neighbour, Dinesh Suthar, said:

“It was very big and the flames were blowing out onto the street.”

The fire is not being treated as suspicious but the cause is currently unknown.

Leanne Thompson

When I was young, like most kids I wanted a dog – but it wasn’t until I was 11 years old that we got our first dog, a beige and white shih tzu called Benji. Benji was soon followed by Whizz, Bomber, Hovis, Ching, Pod and Lady – for the next ten years I was surrounded by these little puppies and I took them to dog training classes regularly.

As an adult, I worked weekends at a dog groomers where I learnt all sorts of things about dogs – many of which you wouldn’t want to read about whilst eating. There are a lot of dog breeds I’d love to have an opportunity to own at some point, including a Bull Mastiff, and I did own a pug for a short period called Jack, but for now my best friend is a shih tzu called Bailey. She’s been with me for six years now, and if anything ever happens to her my mum is emigrating, my lodger is moving out and my friends will probably steer clear of me for a long time.