Dog that survived weekend house fire is in intensive care

As firefighters made checks to ensure a house fire south of Brisbane was completely doused, they were startled by a noise coming from the lounge area. It was the home owner’s dog, who had somehow survived the inferno, but now her next battle has begun.

A DOG that miraculously survived a house fire over the weekend is in critical condition after suffering from smoke inhalation.

Henrietta, the four-year-old black kelpie cross, affectionately called Henry, was found hiding near a burnt lounge inside a gutted Loganholme house on Saturday morning as firefighters were dousing the last of the flames.

Homeowner Lee Ellison, 48, and her sons Jarrod Barlow, 28, and Jaxon Sillars, 12, were not home at the time of the fire.

The only person home, a house guest, escaped unharmed, as did Boots the cat.

Henrietta, aka Henry, the kelpie cross, in intensive care at the Animal Emergency Service in Underwood after surviving a house fire on Saturday. Picture: AES

The lounge in the room in the Loganholme house where the dog was found.

Firefighter Lochlan Patterson, 39, said crews were making sure the fire was completely doused when a noise scared the dog from her hiding place.

“My partner and I were pulling down the roof sheeting so we could access the rafters in the room to make sure the fire was out, when some sheeting hit near the lounge,” he said.

“The next thing I know, the dog appears from under the lounge area and just bolted.”

Mr Patterson said he and his colleagues were “absolutely shocked” the dog survived.

Underwood’s Animal Emergency Service director Dr Alex Hynes said Henry was in intensive care.

“Henry is having a very tough time,” she said.

“She is traumatised physically and mentally from what she has been through.”

Logan House Fire Support Network founder Louie Naumovski has set up a GoFundMe account titled “Help Henny with vet bill” to help the family pay for Henry’s emergency vet bills.

Mr Naumovski said the homeowners’ insurance did not cover veterinary bills, which have already climbed to about $4000.

“Henry took a turn for the worse yesterday morning,” he said.

“Then she goes good for about four hours, then goes back down again to really bad.”

Fire crews from Beenleigh and Loganlea clean up following a house fire on Curve Avenue in Loganholme on Saturday morning. Picture: Jodie Munro O'Brien

On Saturday, a man who lives on a street next to Curve Ave said he had heard a bang earlier in the day and thought the wind had blown a neighbour’s door shut.

Mr Barlow, who had been on the way to work Saturday when his distressed mother rang about the fire, told The Courier-Mail he had been told a television set had exploded, but that had not been confirmed.

Jaxon, a Year 7 pupil at Shailer Park State High School, said all he had left was his phone and the clothes he was wearing.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.