Story i found on my car forum

neonsohc

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Woman Dies While Trying To Rescue Cat From Fire

POSTED: 6:50 am EDT August 12, 2005

PEWEE VALLEY, Ky. -- A Kentucky woman trying to save her cat from inside her burning home near Louisville has died.

Authorities said she died of smoke inhalation after being taken to a hospital.

Iris Kay Call and her husband had escaped from the house, but she went back inside looking for the cat and didn't reappear. Firefighters later removed her from the house.

Neighbor Sandy Bonds said that at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, her neighbor knocked on her door, asking her to call 911 because his house was on fire. That's when the real panic set in because the man realized his wife had gone back inside.

"There was flames coming up the side and just thick smoke," Bonds said.

Bonds said Dennis Call and his wife, Iris, were able to escape their burning home, but when Dennis ran to the Bonds' house for help, Bonds said his wife ran back in to try to save the cat.

"He thought she was out, but when he got back she was gone again," said Bonds, who added that Dennis Call then began trying to fight the fire himself. "He was trying to spray the hose through the window and hollering for her. There was no answer, though."

That's when Bonds' husband, Morris Bonds, tried to go in to look for Iris, but he didn't get far.

"I got about 6 feet into the kitchen, and it was so smoky that I had to come back out," he said. "I couldn't breathe."

Morris Bonds added that the roof began to fall in, and that's when he realized their only option was to wait for firefighters to arrive.

"There's nothing you can do," he said. "It's just awful."

Added Sandy Bonds: "We were just helpless, waiting for help. I wish we could have gotten in."



When firefighters arrived, they had the fire out within minutes, and were able to find Iris alive on the second floor at the top of the stairs.

"I didn't think she was alive," Sandy Bonds said at the time. "Just looking at her, she was just limp."

Iris Call, 42, died later at University Hospital from smoke inhalation. Firefighters said it never should have happened.

"You should never reenter a burning building for an animal," Pewee Valley Fire Department spokesman Kevin Parker said. "There's never a reason for that, and we certainly don't want to have lessons like we had."

It's a lesson that the Bondses wish they never had to learn.

"You (ask yourself), 'What could I have done different to maybe change things?' but I don't think there was nothing that could be done," Sandy Bonds said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The cat she was trying to rescue also died in the blaze.
 

kiwideus

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Oh that is just too sad! I would have done the same thing no matter what the firefighter said. My cats lives are too precious too!
 

evnshawn

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I love and take good care of my cats, but I doubt I would run back into a burning building to rescue them. There's a reason firefighters have on all that equipment when they run into a fire.
 

emmysamson

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I agree, that you should never go back into a burning building to rescue a cat......but, on the other hand, I would go back in to rescue my son or hubby. And my cats are like children...... It's a really tough call to make, and I hope I never have to make that choice.

They didn't say if the firefighters ended up being able to save the cat, though. I'm sorry that she died, but I'm curious to know about the cat as well, seeing as to how she died to try to rescue it.
 

oscarsmommy

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Originally Posted by emmysamson

I agree, that you should never go back into a burning building to rescue a cat......but, on the other hand, I would go back in to rescue my son or hubby. And my cats are like children...... It's a really tough call to make, and I hope I never have to make that choice.

They didn't say if the firefighters ended up being able to save the cat, though. I'm sorry that she died, but I'm curious to know about the cat as well, seeing as to how she died to try to rescue it.
The last sentence it says the cat also died in the blaze. That is a sad story and it WOULD be a tough call.
 

cazimauw

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bless her !
i would'v probably done the same ( i think)
i would be happy to die for an animal.

its sad that they died at least their souls are still together

RIP
 
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neonsohc

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all i have to say about it is that i wouldnt risk my life for an animal. an animal is replaceable and you yourself are not. if you die you leave a loved one alone who now must deal with things on their own. as per an animal you can somwhat get over in time and purchase a new animal friend which you will care about once again.

also you must look on the side that an animal has instincts to get away from danger, so if they arent able tog et themselves out what makes it seem that you could get them out.

thats just my .02
 

catsknowme

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Well, at least they crossed the Bridge together! If it's true,"No greater love hath a man than he should die for his brother", than this precious lady must have truly loved her cat more than we could ever imagine. It's hard not to be angry that she perished due to her own actions, but that's between her Creator & her. My sympathies & prayers go out to her family & neighbors who have lost such an obviously brave, caring person. RIP, Iris Call and your precious cat - when your family crosses RB, you can explain it all to them then, and it will all make sense....
 

sooz123

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God, how strange.

As we were driving home yesterday a massive electrical storm was just over our subdivision. I got it in my head that we were going to drive up to a lightning-struck burning house, and envisioning myself running in after my babies! I think I even had a dream about it!

I could not watch my house burn while my "children" were in there. I've already lost one precious baby to a house fire (traumatic, very very traumatic). It was horrid because I let her mother go outside all the time and she got hit by a car. I swore never again would I ever let a cat outdoors so I kept Precious inside. She acted like she never knew there was an outside, because she was born in the house and was only a couple months old so she hadn't ever been anywhere but inside the house. When it caught on fire and burned to the ground, she was all I could think of. My friend at the scene told me later that she told the firemen not to tell me if they found her. That made it even worse, because they said they didn't and I hoped against hope she got out and looked for her for weeks!


Oh, gut wrenching. I hope I don't die like that. And if my house catches on fire with my kits inside, I will.
 

wellingtoncats

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I will always try and save my pets - they are NOT replaceable. To me it's like saying oh well I didn't wake my husband up because I could just get another one of them!


RIP nice lady, and nice kitty.
 

sooz123

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Right. Each one is a unique spirit, worthy of just as much or more protection as any of us. Now if only law makers saw it that way.

I was even thinking about it earlier today... how badly I'd hope that they'd come to my voice if standing in the front doorway of a burning home. But if not, in I'd go, for sure.
 
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