Dog alerts sleeping Macon couple to house fire

July 20--The hum of a portable air conditioner lulled Chris and Michelle Musselwhite into a deep sleep last week.

After the central air conditioning system went out in their rental house, they sent their three children to spend the night at relatives' houses and relied on the small backup window unit they had used before.

Just after 2 a.m. on July 14, their normally docile golden retriever, Gunner, jumped up on their bed.

"He was very erratic, barking, jumping on the bed. I mean, butting his head up against my head, doing everything he could to wake us up and it just kind of startled us. I mean, that's something he's never done," Chris Musselwhite said.

The Musselwhites were confused at first, not knowing the danger lurking in their home.

Flames were eating away at the kitchen ceiling on the other end of the brick ranch house on Taylor Drive in south Bibb County.

"By that time, the whole bedroom was filled with smoke and we could not go out either doors of our home," Chris Musselwhite said.

The former Bibb County sheriff's deputy returned to the bedroom and used his fist to break the window.

He helped get his wife outside and Gunner promptly jumped out behind her.

Musselwhite followed and broke the back bedroom window to free the family's three cats.

Michelle's pot-bellied pig, Munchie, was rescued by Macon-Bibb County firefighters.

Fire investigator Sgt. Steve Wesson believes the fire began in a food dehydrator on the counter near the stove.

Chris's father, Tom, served as a Macon-Bibb County fire investigator before he retired a few years ago with 41 years on the department.

He knows the deadly potential of overnight blazes.

"This was a pretty bad fire. It was heavy smoke," Tom Musselwhite said. "Being already asleep, the carbon monoxide just makes it worse and I don't know that they would have made it out if the dog hadn't have jumped on them about three times."

If it weren't for a recently diagnosed flea allergy, Gunner might have been sleeping outside with the Musselwhite's other two dogs.

"My wife kinda complained a little bit about him being in the house, but now, I mean, she's like 'He can have whatever he wants,'" Chris Musselwhite said.

Gunner has already been rewarded with his favorite treat -- a McDonald's Happy Meal.

Tank, the elderly pitbull, also might have tried to get inside after the fire started, judging from the bite marks a firefighter discovered at the backdoor, he said.

The family did not have renter's insurance and lost nearly everything inside the house.

They know it could have been much worse.

"We figure God planned it all," 16-year-old Christina Musselwhite said. "We were with the grandparents and the dog was staying inside.

Her father gets emotional when thinking about the "what ifs."

"Everybody was OK. That's all that matters. I just keep praising God."

Liz Fabian: 478-744-4303, @liz_lines

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