Dog Who Saved Family of Five from FireWill be Honored Monday in Ashville

A 6-year-old girl and a 2-year-old St. Bernard will be honored Monday for saving a family from a fire earlier this year.

At 12:30 a.m. back on January 17, Menash Petscher was awakened by his dog Nana relentlessly licking his face, something he said she had never done before. As he quickly learned, Nana was letting him know there was a fire in the family’s two-story home in Kiantone.

Petscher managed to get his wife and three young daughters out of the house, thanks to his daughter Madelyn, who was 5 years old at the time, and who insisted her family have a fire escape plan. Petschers other daughters were 3 years old and 6 months old at the time.

It wasn’t until after the fire that Petscher learned Madelyn had gone on a field trip three months early to the Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village, where she learned about making and practicing a fire escape plan.

Nana, however, died in the fire. The Petscher family believes she was either trying to find her feline companion, "Gracie," or she got confused with all of the smoke in the house and died from smoke inhalation. Her body was found when the house was torn down.

During a program at 11 a.m. Monday the Children’s Education Village in Ashville will unveil a plaque with Nana’s picture and the title “A True Fire Hero.” They will also display a picture of Madelyn and her family to commemorate Madelyn’s diligent efforts, which helped save the lives of her family.

The Board of Children’s Safety Village says the Petschers are the first example of their teachings at work.

Also Monday, the Invisible Fence Company of Erie will donate a pet resuscitation kit in Nana’s honor to one of the fire departments that responded to the fire.

Photos and info provided by Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village

The news leader of the Twin Tiers ...
since 1947