Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
One smart Doodle!
Couldn't resist sharing this heart warming story. A devastating fire but they were so lucky that everyone, including both doodles, were safe. It was a happy ending to a very tragic story as the news of the fire was actually reported the day before on local radio, but, the news at that time reported the family dog as sadly being lost in the fire.
- By Paul Forsyth/Staff
- Sep 10, 2010 - 5:18 PM
Neighbours rally for family
Fund set up after fire guts home
Neighbours rally for family. Yvonne and Tom Dupelle spent time with their dog Shaker at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Thorold last Friday. The family home burned to the ground Sept. 7, and their other dog was in critical condition. Shaker the goldendoodle dog looked the picture of mellow last Friday afternoon, lounging on the carpet in a hotel room at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Thorold.
But pictures can be deceiving: the two-year-old dog remains traumatized from a house fire that destroyed his family’s home on Sept. 7, and he misses his best buddy.
His canine house mate, 18-month-old Chico — a poodle-golden lab mix — was in critical condition at the Niagara Emergency Veterinary Clinic a short distance away on Merrittville Highway on Friday.
“They’re inseparable,” said Yvonne Dupelle, who with husband Tom gave Shaker plenty of reassuring attention. “Shaker’s like a big brother to Chico. He’s lost without him.”
The family’s south Thorold home and all their possessions were destroyed in a blaze that broke out about 1 p.m. Yvonne’s mom, Helen ‘Baba’ Larocque, was the only one home when she smelled smoke. When she opened a bedroom door, dense smoke and flames erupted from the room. Tom Dupelle said his mother-in-law barely had time to get across the driveway before the home’s windows blew out from intense heat.
Chico was found by firefighters some three hours later after the fire had been extinguished, burrowed inside the cushions of a sofa. Thorold Fire Chief Chris Halliday called it a “miracle” that Chico was found alive because the blaze was so intense that firefighters were forced to back off and assume a defensive position.
Shaker was able to escape because a neighbour opened a door, and the dog bolted.
For now, the couple and their three kids, Luke, 9, Danielle, 15, and Jaylen, 20, are living out of the hotel. Although the Dupelles had home insurance, they face hefty medical bills for Chico that could run into the thousands of dollars.
A friend of Yvonne’s, Kelly McNamara, has set up a fund at the Thorold Credit Union where people can make donations to help the family get back on their feet.
“Everybody who meets the Dupelles are instant friends,” said McNamara. “They’re very well liked.”
The Dupelles plan to rebuild on their Deerfield Parkway property, which Tom said could take upwards of a year.
But moving somewhere else is simply not an option: not after the outpouring of help and support the family received from folks in Thorold South.
Tom said neighbours have offered to let them stay in their trailer, donated clothes for the kids, brought them food, given them money, offered to baby sit and made numerous other kind gestures.
“We wouldn’t leave Thorold South,” said Yvonne. “It’s so humbling how people have been so nice to us. It’s more than you would ever expect in your wildest dreams.”
Ironically, in September of last year, Tom and Yvonne were driving by another Thorold home on Highway 20 that burned to the ground when they ended up acting as rescuers of a man in the house. Yvonne called 911 while Tom and another resident banged on doors and windows of the home, alerting the man and helping him to escape.
Along with Chico’s immediate miraculous survival of the blaze, Yvonne said there was another surreal moment when, after the fire, a small white square was spotted on top of a charred pile of wreckage. When she flipped it over, she couldn’t believe what she saw: the only photo she has of her dad, who died nearly 20 years ago.
“I thought I’d lost it,” Yvonne said of the cherished photo. “That thought broke me more anything: that’s when I cried.”
Tom, meanwhile, said his faith in people has been restored by the support of neighbours.
“I never expected this,” he said. “We’ve got nothing, but everybody’s alive, so you count your blessings.”
But pictures can be deceiving: the two-year-old dog remains traumatized from a house fire that destroyed his family’s home on Sept. 7, and he misses his best buddy.
His canine house mate, 18-month-old Chico — a poodle-golden lab mix — was in critical condition at the Niagara Emergency Veterinary Clinic a short distance away on Merrittville Highway on Friday.
“They’re inseparable,” said Yvonne Dupelle, who with husband Tom gave Shaker plenty of reassuring attention. “Shaker’s like a big brother to Chico. He’s lost without him.”
The family’s south Thorold home and all their possessions were destroyed in a blaze that broke out about 1 p.m. Yvonne’s mom, Helen ‘Baba’ Larocque, was the only one home when she smelled smoke. When she opened a bedroom door, dense smoke and flames erupted from the room. Tom Dupelle said his mother-in-law barely had time to get across the driveway before the home’s windows blew out from intense heat.
Chico was found by firefighters some three hours later after the fire had been extinguished, burrowed inside the cushions of a sofa. Thorold Fire Chief Chris Halliday called it a “miracle” that Chico was found alive because the blaze was so intense that firefighters were forced to back off and assume a defensive position.
Shaker was able to escape because a neighbour opened a door, and the dog bolted.
For now, the couple and their three kids, Luke, 9, Danielle, 15, and Jaylen, 20, are living out of the hotel. Although the Dupelles had home insurance, they face hefty medical bills for Chico that could run into the thousands of dollars.
A friend of Yvonne’s, Kelly McNamara, has set up a fund at the Thorold Credit Union where people can make donations to help the family get back on their feet.
“Everybody who meets the Dupelles are instant friends,” said McNamara. “They’re very well liked.”
The Dupelles plan to rebuild on their Deerfield Parkway property, which Tom said could take upwards of a year.
But moving somewhere else is simply not an option: not after the outpouring of help and support the family received from folks in Thorold South.
Tom said neighbours have offered to let them stay in their trailer, donated clothes for the kids, brought them food, given them money, offered to baby sit and made numerous other kind gestures.
“We wouldn’t leave Thorold South,” said Yvonne. “It’s so humbling how people have been so nice to us. It’s more than you would ever expect in your wildest dreams.”
Ironically, in September of last year, Tom and Yvonne were driving by another Thorold home on Highway 20 that burned to the ground when they ended up acting as rescuers of a man in the house. Yvonne called 911 while Tom and another resident banged on doors and windows of the home, alerting the man and helping him to escape.
Along with Chico’s immediate miraculous survival of the blaze, Yvonne said there was another surreal moment when, after the fire, a small white square was spotted on top of a charred pile of wreckage. When she flipped it over, she couldn’t believe what she saw: the only photo she has of her dad, who died nearly 20 years ago.
“I thought I’d lost it,” Yvonne said of the cherished photo. “That thought broke me more anything: that’s when I cried.”
Tom, meanwhile, said his faith in people has been restored by the support of neighbours.
“I never expected this,” he said. “We’ve got nothing, but everybody’s alive, so you count your blessings.”
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