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To: GloriaJane

Kitty apparently made it out okay:

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/NEWS01/301230026

Cat credited with saving Allendale family from house fire

GRAND RAPIDS — A cat’s caterwauling during a pre-dawn house fire may have saved the lives of five family members, a firefighter said.

There were no injuries, but today’s fire destroyed the garage, a Jeep parked in the garage and a second-floor bedroom at Warren and Diane Busscher’s home in Allendale, about 15 miles west of Grand Rapids, said Lt. Michael Keefe of the Allendale Fire Department.

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Keefe said the couple and their three children were sleeping when Diane Busscher awoke to hear the family’s black cat howling and screeching from the garage, where it spends its nights. She went to investigate her pet’s cries.

When the woman opened the door to the garage, smoke started pouring inside, so she grabbed the cat and ran back through the house, waking up everyone and telling them to go outside. The home had working smoke detectors that apparently were not set off until the family was outdoors, Keefe said.

“Their statement to me is that the smoke detectors did not go off until they were outside,” he said.

The fire department, which was dispatched to the scene shortly before 5 a.m., was trying to determine the cause of the fire. It originated in the garage but apparently was not started by the cat, Keefe said.

Telephone calls to the Busschers’ house were met with busy signals.


13 posted on 01/24/2008 9:49:04 PM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr
Thank You! It's much better knowing that the little hero made it too.

Here's a picture of our cat Perseval. I it took with my cell phone in the dark. LOL!




14 posted on 01/24/2008 9:59:56 PM PST by GloriaJane (http://www.download.com/gloriajane)
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To: Spktyr

Thank-you for letting me know that the cat made it out alive. :) =^..^=


17 posted on 01/25/2008 8:07:51 AM PST by Biggirl (A biggirl with a big heart for God's animal creation, with 4 cats in my life as proof. =^..^=)
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To: Spktyr
The home had working smoke detectors that apparently were not set off until the family was outdoors

A houseful of smoke detectors, and not one of them went off. Batteries all dead? I decided to check my own smoke detectors. I have one in the hall; that's it. I couldn't even reach it by standing on a chair; my ceilings are too high. So how can I possibly check the batteries? I don't see why they have to be on the ceiling. Why can't they be on the side of a wall, within reach of someone standing on a chair?

23 posted on 01/25/2008 1:22:40 PM PST by my_pointy_head_is_sharp (...dreams of a Utopia - a land where 'Liberals' aka Totalitarians do not exist...)
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