Just days before Christmas, one Minnesota dad woke in his house to the screams of his eldest daughter outside his bedroom door. He could smell smoke.
It turns out, the former National Guardsman, Devin Haegeman, 29, his wife, still enlisted Guardswoman Hannah, 23, and their four kids might not have escaped their burning Nevis home in time had it not been for Gracie—the family’s dog.
Though they lost everything in the blaze, they were met with an outpouring of community support, in the form of clothes and a crowdsourcing fundraiser to help them get back on their feet.
But on that fated early Dec. 22 morning, Devin later learned, it was Gracie who first woke their two boys, Maddox, 4, and Daniel, 2, before bounding off to the room of their eldest daughter, 9-year-old Emily.
The loyal pooch first joined the family about six months ago. What started as a temporary foster situation turned permanent after they fell in love and adopted her—and now Gracie has repaid the favor.
The dad recalled the incident: “The moment we realized that we were in danger, we went into auto pilot,” Devin told The Epoch Times. “As a parent, I’ve asked myself a million times what I would do in that situation, but neither of us hesitated.”
The house was filled with smoke, he said. Quickly, they got the kids out, before Devin went back inside for the dog and the fire extinguisher.
Before escaping, he saw sparks shooting up from behind the dryer, he said, but gave up trying to put it out and got out. The consensus, was that the fire was “caused by an electrical malfunction.”
He wrote: “Less than 10 minutes after everyone got out, the laundry room was completely engulfed, flames shooting into the sky.”
The house was a “total loss,” he told the newspaper. The boys’ bedroom, the bathroom, the laundry room, and part of the kitchen were completely destroyed.
Everything else was so covered in soot that nothing was salvageable.
Within hours of the fire, though, the family had enough new clothes and toys from organizations that they’d never even heard of dropping by to match what they'd lost.
In the days after the loss of their home, Devin made calls and was able to find a fully furnished rental.
The dad shared how in 2000 his own parents lost their home in a fire. “It never occurred to me how my parents felt in that moment,” he wrote on Facebook. “Because I know that they felt exactly what I’m feeling today. … We picked up the pieces, got a new house, and got new stuff.”
But his parents didn’t receive half the help Devin and his family have, which tells him they’re “going to make it now,” he said.
As for the debt of gratitude he and his family owe their adoring Gracie, he added: “She'll never quite understand how grateful we are that she was there, but she’s family.”
