Robertson County woman rescues three-legged dog from fire that destroyed her home
“It wasn’t even a question in my mind, I was going in. And I was praying to God that I came out with him.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A woman in Greenbrier lost nearly everything when a fire destroyed her rental house last month.
On Sept. 20 at around 1 a.m., the Greenbrier, Millersville and White House Fire Departments responded to a house fire off North Mount Pleasant Road. Andrea “Moe” Mrozinski, the woman renting that house, said she and her two roommates escaped safely.
Mrozinski said she lost almost everything but still has her two dogs, one of whom she risked her own life to rescue.
She said she woke up to a popping noise in her kitchen and saw what looked like candlelight. She got up and looked to find her kitchen on fire. She tried to extinguish the fire by filling up and pouring water from the dog bowl on it.
“I made about three or four trips before I was like, ‘I’m not going anywhere with this,’” Mrozinski said.
She ran outside with her two roommates and her foster dog, Amara, as the home erupted into flames.
As she watched the structure burn, she said she quickly realized her three-legged rescue dog, Dexter, was nowhere to be found.
“The other guys, they were literally telling me, ‘No, you can’t go back in there,” Mrozinski said. “It wasn’t a question in my mind, I was going in. And I was praying to God that I came out with [Dexter].”
After searching, she said she found the white husky cowering under the bed in her room. She got down on her hands and knees and tried to coax him out.
“At that time, flames were like what felt like right on my face, and stuff was melting on me,” she said.
She tried to guide him by his collar out of the room, but he slipped out of it and ran, scared, back under the bed. All the while, the fire was growing and spreading.
“I was just thinking, ‘Dexter, we got to get out of here. Like, you’ve got to work with me right now,’” she said. “‘I need you to get with me and let’s do this.”
Mrozinski successfully escaped with Dexter out the doorway that was licking them with flames. They both suffered minor burns.
“I was basically told by the fire marshal: 10 more minutes or less, and I would have not been able to come through that door,” she said.
She said she is thankful for the response of the fire departments and that their first concern when they arrived was making sure everyone -- and every pet -- was out of the house safely.
“If I would have left Dexter, they would have went in after him, no matter how far that fire had went,” she said.
Mrozinski said she was able to salvage some of her dad’s heirlooms but not much else. Now, she said her biggest worry is finding a new place to live.
She said she is thankful for her landlord, Kelly, who also lost her childhood home. She said her workplace, Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, her mom and her friends have been extremely supportive.
To donate to Mrozinski’s GoFundMe for recovery efforts, visit this link.
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