A family dog in Albion earned hero status Tuesday, for saving his owners from their burning home. Dennis and Jennifer Stoneman told me that without their dog Wrangler, they and their 15-year-old daughter Shelby might not have escaped their burning home alive.

Wrangler is a gentle six-year-old Basset hound, perhaps not your picture of a hero.  But at 3:00 a.m. Tuesday, when an electrical fire broke out in a wall socket of his family's home on Route 18 in Albion, wrangler jumped into action, to make sure his sleeping family woke up.

With the flames spreading quickly and blocking the main door, it was not a moment too soon.  He did it by repeatedly jumping on the edge of the bed, then running in and out of the room, until he woke Dennis up.  "Wrangler was jumping on the edge of the bed like he is not supposed to, and he did it several times and then he would run to the kitchen or out of the bedroom," said Dennis.  "And then when he scratched my arm and jumped, I was a little irritated with him, but I sat up, then heard the crackling and popping in the attic and knew with him acting the way he was and the sound, something definitely wasn't right."
 

Jennifer said the dog's persistence came just in time.  "He's our angel, we couldn't have done it without him and we wouldn't be here today, it makes us appreciate him even more."  The family along with Wrangler and another dog Buster, had to escape out a back door because.the main door and the entire north side of their home was engulfed in flames. They say the structure is insured, but not the contents and other than some clothes and photographs, they lost everything.  Family, friends and and the Red Cross are already helping.  If you would like to donate to assist the family, there is also a Go Fund Me page, www.gofundme.com/7c3vwsjp and contributions can also be made at Northwest Savings Bank in Springboro.