Life Saver?

When you think of a fire dawg, what do you think of?  Mommy says most people think of dalmatians.

Yes, these are handsome dawgs, but I have another image in my mind . . . ME!  Trying to escape the madness!

We've had a few issues with smoke detectors lately.  Once, Mommy had the broiler on and although NOTHING was technically burning (yet), the "burn" smell was starting to permeate the air and so the smoke detector started to sound.  When this happened, Daddy grabbed a broom and began to fan the alarms in the kitchen and master bedroom.  It seemed to take forever for the alarms to stop.  Being the wise dawg I am, I made for the nearest exit.  I went to the back door and waited for someone to notice me and help me escape.  Where was my sister Dixie?  She ran to her crate.

Another time, Daddy was cooking and the alarms started going off.  Mommy grabbed the broom this time, but since she's shorter and we have really tall ceilings, she wasn't nearly as effective as Daddy at fanning the invisible (perhaps nonexistent?) threat.  Once again, you could find me at the back door and Dixie in her crate.

The final straw came two Saturdays ago.  At FIVE in the morning, all of the alarms in the entire house started sounding off.  We have SEVEN alarms in this house and they are seriously loud.  Yes, they serve a life saving purpose, but . . .

Mommy jumped straight up and started running around trying to find the problem.  No one was cooking (much less awake) at that time of morning.  There had been a fire in the fireplace the night before, so that caused Mommy to slow down in her search, but it too was fine.  After racing through the entire house, she and Daddy decided to yank all of the smoke detectors off the ceiling.  They started in the bedrooms since they were at a shorter ceiling height.  When it came to the master bedroom and kitchen, a second ladder had to be retrieved from the garage so Daddy could climb higher.   There were alarms and words flying around the house as frustration set in and eardrums continued to pound!  Where was I?  You guessed it: waiting at the back door.  (I'm such a smart dawg!)

As soon as number 6 of 7 came down, the sounds blissfully stopped . . . for about ten minutes and then the alarm from the master bedroom just started sounding off as it sat on the table!  That battery was ripped out and has not been replaced!  We think one of the batteries in the detectors needed to be changed and it was causing all of the alarms to sound off.  Yes, those are supposed to be changed with the time in the fall and spring, but . . . Needless to say they are ALL changed now.  Except for that master bedroom detector.  Whenever we try to replace that battery, it starts the whole chaotic mess again.  We think it's defective.  It's not going back up.

Mommy says not to worry.  We have six other alarms that alert us to any potential problem.  They seem to be everywhere!

I tell you all this to remind you that you should change your batteries every so often in your smoke detectors AND you need an evacuation plan should the worst happen.  I will be waiting by the back door for my parents.  They will be duking it out over who has to go retrieve Dixie from her crate!  I guess on the bright side, at least they'll know where to find her!  That reminds me, we need to add the stickers to the doors and windows to remind the firemen to look for us too.  I don't think Mommy has thought of that since we moved.

A Public Service Announcement from the Most Beautiful Fire Dawg,
Jenna