Night Light Fire

We were toned out for a fire in an apartment. Because it was a high occupancy area everything my department has was rolling on the call. When we got there we were met by a 20 year old girl who said that something caught fire upstairs in her apartment. As I followed my captain up the stairs he came to a very abrupt stop, then started backing up. Seems the girl forgot to tell us that she had two dogs. The small one was locked up but the larger mutt (about 40 lbs) was at the top of the stairs and was very pissed at the intruders. After we retreated the dog retreated into the spare room. We quickly shut the door. Now, unable to find the fire, we asked the girl where, exactly, was the fire. She said it was the night lite in the bathroom. Sure enough, it had shorted out and probably smoked a bit. She quickly grabbed her phone, ran out of the house and called us. As a firefighter I have to say that this was the smart thing to do. Get safe and call for help. As an animal lover I wonder why she abandoned her dogs in what she thought was a burning house. As an average guy I wonder what made her call 911 for a small smoking night lite. Put the thing in the sink, cool it off with water, then throw it away.