A power strip with a cell phone charging on it was plugged in behind the girl’s headboard.  When the outlet and cord sparked around 6 am, fire quickly spread around the bed.  It was just creeping up to her pillow when Gizmo frantically started barking.

She and the rest of the family were startled awake and rushed out of the home.  While they did have smoke alarms, they were unaware that they were not functioning.

“The only thing that alerted the family in the house was the fact that their dog awakened, barked and woke up the people in the house,” Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Services Station Commander Kevin O’Neill told the Belfast Telegraph.

“They evacuated out of the house, got into the car and waited on the fire service and never returned to the house.

“That is positive and I would commend them for their actions in getting out and staying out and waiting on the fire and rescue service arriving.

“There is always that temptation and what we are trying to do is to reinforce the message to let us deal with the incident. If you were to re-enter there’s the chance you could be overcome by the smoke so we want to emphasize the point that you get out and stay out.”

The girl suffered only a minor burn to her arm, and was treated at the scene.

“It was only because the dog wakened her that she was able to get up and escape otherwise I’ve no doubt the next thing that would have caught fire would have been the pillow and her hair,” O’Neill said.

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Barry Stewart is the amazing teacher inspiring kids to do more for other. He wanted to motivate his students to learn skills they will use as adults, helping them better prepare for the future, and in 2002 he started a program where his shop students learned basic construction skills while building dog houses. The houses are donated to the Houses for Hounds program run by the Forsyth County Animal Control.

Since the beginning of this program, the students have mastered construction skills and donated more than 600 dog house to low-income pet owners and animal welfare groups.

The teenagers have not only learned a wonderful skill, but this opportunity have also led them to design better homes for dogs in need. The houses now feature removable roofs, doorways positioned on the side of the homes to protect pets against wind, and a two-inch raised entryway to prevent pets from removing their beds.

This shows how the right guidance helps our future leaders to think of others first. Doing good things doesn’t take much, and the world would be a better place if compassion is taught at a young age.

The shop students now plan to add feeding stations to their goals and help even more animals in need. Think of all the homeless animals these feeding stations will help.

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