Socs the dog saves sleeping Grimsby couple from house fire
A Grimsby couple is homeless after fire destroyed their house and two vehicles in the early hours of Wednesday.
Keith and Pat Zonneveld, who have lived at their Lorne Avenue home for 30 years, attribute their safety to Socs, their nine-year-old dog. Socs barked loudly enough to wake her owners and alert them to the fire before any of the smoke alarms kicked in.
“She’s the hero,” said Pat.
Pat had taken a pill before bed to help her sore back and said she would not have awakened if it weren’t for Socs.
Her husband Keith agreed, noting they owe their lives to their beloved pet.
“If we’d been in there five, 10 minutes longer it might have been a totally different story,” he said.
From what Keith could tell, the fire originated outside of the home, under the carport, he said.
Keith woke up just before midnight on Feb. 12 to see what Socs was barking at and said he heard crackling noises.
“I just thought it was icicles falling off the tree landing on the roof.”
Walking up the hallway, he saw a bright orange light flickering and said he immediately started yelling, “Wake up! We’ve got a fire! Call 911, we’ve got to get out of here now!”
The fire was already quite large at that point, he said.
Firefighters arrived shortly after midnight, said Keith, and began battling the blaze.
The neighbours across the street welcomed the couple into their house, where they spent most of the evening watching the fire claim their house and vehicles.
Keith said watching flames burn through his home of 30 years was heartbreaking.
“We’re pretty shaken up ... still trying to absorb it all.”
Both an insurance adjuster and a representative from the Grimsby Fire Department told the couple if they have to rebuild, which it certainly looks like they will, the process will take roughly nine or 10 months.
Keith said they do intend to rebuild and stay at the same location.
Neighbours and friends were already checking in on the couple Wednesday afternoon to make sure they were OK, bringing food and arranging to have a change of clothes sent over.
Friends are also helping to arrange a place for the couple to stay.
The couple’s daughter Ashley said she will be putting together a GoFundMe page to solicit help from the community so her parents can rebuild.
In the meantime, anybody wishing to offer their assistance can email Ashley at zonnevelda@yahoo.ca.
Grimsby firefighters remained on the scene Wednesday well after the fire was extinguished to make sure there were no flareups.
Firefighters on site Wednesday afternoon were unable to release any information about the cause of the fire. Officers from the Niagara Regional Police Service also attended the scene Wednesday.
They left once it was determined there was no criminal element to the fire.