Dog's Lick Saved My Life, Says Woman

By Sam McKnight for The Southland Times

The kiss of life has new meaning for a Southland woman who credits her dog as her saviour.

Shirley Mulvihill was alone and asleep in her house on Waituna Lagoon Rd, near Kapuka on Wednesday when her eight-month-old Staffordshire dog Fiji licked her face to alert her to danger shortly before 10pm.

Her eyes opened to a smoke filled bedroom and her house in the firm grip of a fiery inferno, she said.

She made a frantic phone call to the fire service for help but halfway through the phone cut out, she said.

Not knowing if the message had got through, she dashed out the front door and ran down the road to one neighbour, but no-one was home.

So it was on to the next to make sure the alarm was raised. But from the window she saw the lights of fire engines coming, the call had been answered, Mrs Mulvihill said.

“I’m certainly no runner but it didn’t take very long for them to get here.”

But it was too late, the house was engulfed and her neighbour told her the kitchen was gone.

“My house is gone, but we are both alive, thanks to Fiji.”

The experience was frightening and unreal, she said.

Fiji was a special friend and now even more so, Mrs Mulvihill said.

“She’ll get a few treats out of this.”

Mrs Mulvihill was taken to Southland Hospital by ambulance and treated for smoke inhalation and other than coughing a bit she was unharmed, she said.

The brick and roughcast house was all but destroyed in the blaze, with fire spreading to all parts of the house.

Invercargill senior station officer Peter Thwaites said fire engines from Invercargill and Kingswell stations accompanied by three water tankers all attended the fire.

Fire crews spent about four hours at the scene.

Fire safety officer Stuart Ide examined the scene yesterday afternoon and he said it was believed the fire started in the kitchen area of the house but it was not yet determined how.

Lightning strikes were in the area and two or three power transformers were knocked out, which “have to go into the mix”, he said.

There were no smoke alarms in the house, Mr Ide said.

Mr Ide will continue his investigation today.

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Shelley33
Shelley33
13 years ago

Luv the Pits. Thry get an unwarranted bad rap when, in actuallity, they r a mans/womans best friend. I have two Pits myself and wouldnt sell them for all the money in the world. As God is my witness.

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