La Pine man spots and uses brick to smash open a locked window, rescue dog from burning home

(Update: Adding video)

Freed dog ran off; others helped find, reunite with owner, who sadly lost another dog, cat in fire

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – La Pine resident Blake Barrett and his wife, Keddah, were headed home from a stop at his parents’ house Sunday afternoon “to pick up a couple of things.” Within minutes, he was picking up something else – a brick – to smash open a locked window and rescue a dog from a burning, smoke-filled home.

Sadly, another dog and a cat perished in the blaze that heavily damaged a single-wide manufactured home in the 16000 block of Burgess Road. But Barrett was glad he was able to help by seeing, then freeing the dog, who jumped out and ran off but was soon found, thanks to family and community members linked by social media, and reunited with its owner.

La Pine Rural Fire District Captain Gary Young said crews were dispatched around 12:25 p.m. to the structure fire after an Oregon State Police trooper, the first on scene, found heavy smoke and flames coming from the engulfed structure.

Blake Barrett later recalled, “We’d turned from Day Road onto Burgess and saw a State Police car pulled over and just flipped his lights on, and they both (troopers) jumped out.”

The couple first saw some smoke, thinking it was probably from someone burning lawn debris after burning season had closed.

Then they saw the flames coming out of the house, so they quickly pulled over and Blake jumped out of their car.

“It wasn’t a couple minutes later, we heard a dog whining – even my wife heard it, and she was still in the car,” he recalled. A trooper said he probably was hearing a neighbor’s dog, but Blake said no – he was sure it was from inside the burning house.

So Barrett went around the house to the back, the trooper following -- and “the very first window I checked, a dog was standing up. I could barely see him through the smoke,” he said. “I tried to open the window, but it was locked.”

At just that moment, he turned to his left, and spotted a brick on the ground.

He asked the trooper who was with him – the other had kicked open the front door to check for any occupants – if he could use it to smash the window open, and try to free the dog.

“Yes - do it,” the trooper told him.

So Barrett stood back a bit and threw it through the window, smashing a hole – not big enough for the dog to jump through, but enough for him to reach in, unlock  the other, unbroken window and pull it open.

The dog quickly jumped out and took off for parts unknown.

Barrett then called his sister, Kellie Grigsby, said their mom, Wendy Sallie. As Grigsby put it, “we start putting work in on Facebook.”

“I commented on a post about the dog being missing, and multiple people went looking,” Grigsby said. “My mom threw hot dogs in her car and headed out to look, so I didn’t have to load my three kids up. And by the time she was at the corner store, the dog had been captured and was getting a leash put on him.” She said her brother later got a thankful call from the dog's grateful owner.

La Pine Fire’s Young said crews conducted an offensive attack on the blaze, stopping its forward progress. Searches of the home located a deceased dog and cat (who Barrett said he hadn’t seen or heard), but no people inside.

Fire damage was limited to the kitchen and living room areas, but there was smoke damage throughout, the fire captain said. The home’s lone resident had been away but returned later.

Crews were on scene for about 1 ½ hours, overhauling the blaze and putting out hot spots. The cause of the fire was under investigation, Young said, adding that the home was insured.