Rescued pup saves master

Eight years ago, a Franklin resident rescued a discarded pup in Indianapolis, bottle-fed him and saved his life.

On Monday, the dog returned the favor.

Bob Lynn answered his dog’s incessant barks and refusal to come back in from the attached garage, an area the animal typically doesn’t like.

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Lynn grabbed a flashlight and climbed up to the attic, which is accessed through the garage and which had filled with smoke. Firefighters say a fire had been smoldering in the attic at 1897 Crescent St. for 12 to 24 hours. The blaze could have been devastating had the ceiling fallen in overnight on the sleeping family below.

“If it wasn’t for that dog and the fire department,” Lynn said. “At anytime, it could have come crashing in.”

He called the fire station close to his home, rather than 911, at 9 a.m. Monday because he didn’t see a fire, only smoke. Firefighters saw smoke pouring from the sides of the house where the siding meets the roof and cut holes in the ceilings of two rooms. Burning embers came falling down, fire department spokesman Brad Epperson said.

More than half the home is now covered with burned insulation and embers. Belongings throughout were damaged by smoke and water, he said.

Firefighters determined an electrical wire sparked the blaze as early as Sunday morning and slowly burned through the attic. With no air moving through the attic and no belongings to be consumed as fuel, the fire grew slowly.

“It should just alert people that a fire can smolder,” Epperson said.

A breaker tripped in the home on Sunday evening, and the family wasn’t sure why.

On Monday morning, Lynn was reheating his coffee when the dog wouldn’t stop barking. He had no idea what was happening overhead.

“I saved his life; he just saved mine,” Lynn said of his pet, Garfunkel.

Lynn, his wife and son are waiting for insurance to arrange temporary housing, Lynn said.

“Where we go, that dog’s going to be with me,” Lynn said. “I think he has earned his keep.”