Lisle Dog A 'Hero' After Neighbors Escape House Fire

DuPAGE COUNTY, IL — The Lisle-Woodridge Fire District is recognizing "Hank the Wonder Dog," a local hero whose quick actions ultimately led to his three neighbors escaping a house fire unharmed.

On the morning of Aug. 12, Hank wasn't acting like his normal self when he became upset and agitated while in his cage at his family's Lisle home, according to the fire district. Because of this, Hank's family members woke up and went downstairs to let him out of his cage, the fire district added.

According to Lisle-Woodridge Fire District Chief Keith Krestan, Hank's family shared that the dog immediately ran to the back door, but they were hesitant to open it in case someone was outside. The family then saw the next-door neighbors' house was on fire, according to Krestan. Hank's family quickly called 911 and alerted the neighbors that their house was on fire.

Firefighters got to the home and quickly extinguished the flames, Krestan told Patch. Although there was moderate fire and smoke damage, Krestan added that if Hank hadn’t alerted his family, "this would have been a very different story."

Related: Woodridge Heroes: Help Patch Recognize Those Making A Difference

"That is our sweet and goofy boy Hank! We could have never imagined when we adopted him from Rover Rescue 2.5 years ago we’d have a night like this one! It was surreal," Wendie Ferron wrote on Facebook. "Thank you Lisle-Woodridge Fire District for honoring Hank and responding so quickly to our 911 call!"

Don't miss updates about precautions in the Woodridge area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Krestan described Hank as a very happy, great family dog.

Krestan told Patch the fire district waited to share this story while they worked to verify all the information. In the end, Krestan said there is no other explanation as to why the dog became so upset other than he knew what was happening next door.

"He truly is a hero," Krestan said.

The neighbors recognized Hank as the main reason they ultimately got out of the burning home, according to Krestan.

According to the fire district, this incident could have been even worse due to no working smoke detectors in the home.

The fire district encourages homeowners to replace existing battery-operated smoke alarms with ones containing a 10-year sealed battery, and added that as these "long life" smoke detectors will provide continuous power for a decade, reducing the risk of batteries not being replaced regularly.