Barking Dogs Save Macon Family from House Fire

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Artenia Lockett lost a lifetime worth of memories, after a fire ripped through her home on Maynard Street; the 72-year-old and her family survived and it’s all thanks to two barking dogs.

Early Monday, Lockett’s family was sound asleep when a flame sparked in her living room. Her small Daschund’s Snoopy and Lady sensed danger and started barking.

“When they came in barking and woke us up it was about 5 a.m.,” Lockett said, “I thought it was Theresa.”

Thinking it was a false alarm, Lockett heading back to bed, but her pooches were persistent. When she walked towards the front door, she realized her home was engulfed in smoke and flames.

“We came through the front door and that’s when the fire was just blazing,” she said.

She navigated the blaze and got outside, but the rest of her family was still trapped. Cleveland Brown managed to get out of his walker and jump from a window. He survived with only cuts and bruises. Roger “Gene” Phillips suffered moderate burns. The dogs went back inside with him to make sure everyone was safe.

“Snoopy went back in there behind them and we didn’t know it,” Lockett said.

It is a true tale of survival, since the home didn’t have working smoke detectors. Lockett said the batteries died and she planned on getting more but never got around to it. Macon-Bibb Fire Investigator Sergeant Ben Gleaton found the detectors on the dining room table. The fire department donated them to the home a few years back.

Thankfully, Snoopy and Lady’s early morning howls served as a backup smoke detector, alerting the family before it was too late.

“I never thought,” Lockett said, “I just got them for pets cause I love dogs.”