By Joe Hosey
The Chicago Sun Times
PLAINFIELD, Ill. — She may not be a Dalmatian, but Daisy the golden retriever proved the equal of any fire dog when she saved her family from the flames that engulfed their Plainfield home last spring.
The 5-year-old dog, recently honored by the Plainfield Fire Department for her quick action, roused the family at 3 a.m. as the house filled with smoke.
“My fiance checked and saw fire in the living room,” Daisy’s owner Melissa Hawkes said.
“He said, ‘Get up, there’s a fire in the house,’” Hawkes recalled, telling how she, her fiance Mike Santolin, and her 16-year-old son, Ryan, escaped in their pajamas.
Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton said Hawkes was “very adamant” that Daisy saved her and her family.
“She said the dog was barking and woke them up,” Stratton said.
Along with all the people she helped to get out of the house, Daisy also saved the family’s other dog, Lucky, a cocker spaniel.
Hawkes said the blaze started when a worker in her home drove a nail through an electrical wire.
The fire smoldered throughout the day and ignited after everyone went to sleep.
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