Thanks to his dog, a man safely escaped a Sept. 28 fire that destroyed his camper parked in the Hillsboro area, said Greg Shuster, assistant chief with the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District.
“The guy was sleeping in his camper. The dog actually woke him up,” Shuster said.
The man escaped the burning camper, which was parked next to someone else’s home at 8889 Big Bend, and then called 911.
Cedar Hill Fire received the call at 2:12 a.m., and firefighters were on the scene at 2:17 a.m., Shuster said.
When they arrived, the camper was on fire and had extended to the shed and melted the siding on the house. There was no one in the house at the time of the fire, Shuster said.
“Apparently, they are rehabbing the house after the flood. He (the man in the camper) was there to watch the property,” Shuster said.
He said the man did not live in the house but was helping friends.
“(The man) was treated for minor smoke inhalation at the scene,” Shuster added.
The camper was destroyed. Fortunately, “the man said he had a place to stay,” Shuster said. The cause of the fire is undetermined, Shuster said.
Crews were on the scene until 3:41 a.m. The De Soto Rural and Hillsboro fire protection districts and the Big River Ambulance District assisted with the call.