‘Happy ending’: Overland Park dog credited with alerting family to smoke, flames
An Overland Park family was crediting their rescue dog with alerting them to the presence of smoke and flames in their basement on Friday afternoon, prompting a 911 call that brought first-responders to the scene before severe damage was done.
Fire crews from Overland Park and Leawood were dispatched around 12:30 p.m. to a report of a house fire in the 15500 block of Valley View Drive. Smoke was seen by first-responders coming from the back of the single-family home as all four residents had already gone outside, Jason Rhodes, a spokesman for Overland Park Fire Department, said in a statement.
A small fire was extinguished in the basement. No one was hurt.
The family told the fire department that, while they had active smoke alarms in the house, the dog detected the danger first. He was heard barking in the basement, leading a resident to walk downstairs and find smoke billowing from under the bathroom door.
The door was kept closed as the family left the residence, a factor fire investigators say helped the flames from spreading. Residents were expected to be able to reoccupy the home as damage was contained to the basement.
Rhodes, of Overland Park fire, said the situation amounted to a “happy ending to what could have been a scary story” amid National Fire Prevention Week.”
