Miffed dog gets growly at firemen

PHOTO/FILE

An unhappy three-legged dog was a little ungrateful when firefighters showed up at his house on Thursday evening to put out a fire in the laundry.

It appeared a faulty electrical cord to the washing machine sparked the fire, which gutted the laundry but didn't spread anywhere else.

"The three-legged dog was still in the house and he didn't want to leave, and he growled at the firemen when they went in," Senior Station Officer Bryce Coneybeer said.

Firefighters were still able to do their job, and had the fire under control in about five minutes.

The residents, who lived in Anzac Parade, noticed the fire just before 5pm and fled, calling emergency services.

"It was a good save," Mr Coneybeer said.

"The laundry was the only room in the house that was fire damaged, though the rest of the house was quite smoky."

He wanted to remind people that smoke alarms helped with early detection of fires.

Meanwhile, firefighters were called out to a lawn fire yesterday when a Gonville resident left an incinerator going in the "very dry" back yard.

"An ember blew out of the incinerator and set fire to the whole lawn," Mr Coneybeer said.

The fire spread under the fence of the Swiss Ave home and set the neighbour's lawn alight around 12.30pm.

"It was very distressing for the people with their garden hose trying to put it out.

"It's a timely message that there is a fire ban and even the smallest fire in the incinerator can turn things bad."

Mr Coneybeer said conditions were still "very dry" and urged people to call if they saw anything "untoward".