CASTLE HILLS, Texas – During the brunt of a storm, Castle Hills police Cpl. David Fawcett was on high alert following several lightning strikes. There had been a call for a suspicious person in the 200 block of Honeysuckle Lane at the same time when he said he “noticed smoke on the street."
A quick spotlight check revealed a plume of smoke coming from the roof of a house.
Officer Garrett Earlywine arrived a few seconds later for backup, and they tried to enter the house.
“The only thing that crossed my mind was, ‘There are people inside. There are animals inside,’" Earlywine said. “When I got to the door, I heard a dog barking. I said, ‘I’m getting that dog.’"
No one was inside, and the alarm company, as well as neighbors, had already alerted homeowner, Audrey Poole.
“All of our neighbors were letting us know about the house and that the dog was OK,” she said.
She said a lightning strike in the gutter started a fire in the garage roof. Crews responded quickly and said the fire was minimal.
Poole said the repairs to her home will take months. She was told her 1950s home was not wire grounded.
She said she’s counting her blessings and she’s happy to still have her home, her dog, Max, and her bird, Diego.
“Thank you, guys so, so much for saving our home and our pets and our life,” she said, referring to first responders.
Fawcett thinks it was just a stroke of luck that he was at the right place at the right time.
“I can’t take any credit. It was divine intervention,” he said.