Waynesboro dog saves owners from house fire

By Cleve Wiese

Published: April 24, 2008

The yelps of a black Labrador Retriever early Thursday helped save a family from a fire ripping through their Waynesboro home.
“He’s a real hero,” said Linus Cash, 43, said of his 1-year-old dog, Guinness, after flames badly damaged his family’s South View Drive home.
Linus and Keely Cash were asleep in their bedroom around 2:30 a.m. when Guinness awakened them with repeated barks. Linus Cash said he tried to go back to sleep, but his wife said she knew something was seriously wrong.
“He just kept barking,” said Keely Cash, 48. “He was persistent.”
The fire, which began in the house’s carport, had spread to the attic and was probably eating through the ceiling over the couple’s heads when their agitated pet awakened them, said Capt. Bruce Crow of the Augusta County Fire Department. Smoke detectors failed to sound, Crow said.
“They should be buying him a big steak today,” Crow said.
When Linus Cash left his bedroom and walked down the hallway into the kitchen, the room was strangely hot and filled with a fiery glow, he said.
“It was like walking into an inferno,” he said.
The couple – and the dog – escaped unharmed. Linus Cash sustained some minor burns from trying to fight the fire with a garden hose, Crow said.
The house is located in the Grand View subdivision between Waynesboro and Stuart’s Draft.
The family lost almost everything to fire, smoke and water damage, Keely Cash said. One room in the rear of the house, the former bedroom of a now-grown son, was mostly spared, she said.
A 1990 Chevrolet Suburban, a 1988 Ford Bronco and a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck – Linus Cash’s pride and joy, he said – were destroyed.  Crow estimated the value of lost property at $130,000.
The fire was reported at about 2:45 a.m., Crow said. Responding authorities included the Waynesboro, Preston Yancey, Stuart’s Draft, New Hope, Wilson and Augusta County Fire Departments, as well as Waynesboro and Stuart’s Draft rescue squads.
The Virginia State Police are investigating. Keely Cash said an investigator told them earlier in the day the blaze was probably sparked by a short circuit in the Ford F-150 pickup truck, which was parked under the carport.
The Cash’s insurance companies have provided them with a rental car and a temporary apartment in Fishersville, they said.
“It is definitely pet-friendly,” Linus Cash said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be staying there.”