Prince Albert couple credits dog for wakeup call after garage set on fire

By Nigel Maxwell

The cause of an early-morning fire in Prince Albert’s midtown neighbourhood area is under investigation, but the people living in the nearby house have already been told it is being treated as suspicious.

Shyenne Gallagher was at home sleeping Monday when, at around 1:50 a.m., she was suddenly awakened by her very excited one-year-old dog, Asher.

“He just wouldn’t quit (Monday) morning and he finally jumped on me. Obviously I knew something was wrong, so I came to the door and I saw a really bright light so I opened the door and the garage was on fire,” Gallagher recalled.

Gallagher immediately called the fire department and crews arrived less than 10 minutes later to quickly extinguish the blaze.

Fortunately, the fire was contained to the garage and there weren’t any injuries reported. Later in the morning, the couple and their landlord were still in the process of trying to clean up the mess.

“My dog was pretty terrified after he came outside and he didn’t even want to go near it,” Gallagher said.

The couple has been renting the house for nearly five months and, according to Gallagher, there haven’t been any real issues.

“We haven’t had any problems other than people coming (and) just taking things. Other than that, it’s been good here,” she said.