UPS driver, neighbors save dogs from burning home in Norfolk
A UPS driver is being honored for his swift action to get three dogs out of a burning house in Norfolk earlier this month.
“It was just another ordinary day with inclement weather,” said Chris Schwenk, who has been a UPS driver for 12 years and made frequent rounds in the Northside neighborhood.
That day took a turn when lightning struck a house on Granby Street and Schwenk saw smoke.
He was finishing rounds in one neighborhood and headed to another when — ahead of all other indications that something was wrong — he smelled burning. He turned on the main road, and, during a routine scan of his sideview mirrors, he saw smoke rolling out of the attic of a house on Granby Street. He pulled over and dialed 911. Then, something dawned on him.
He knew that house — and the dog who lived there.
At that point, he didn’t realize three dogs were in the home. He was only familiar with the senior black Lab named Hailey, with grey on her snout, who lounged in the front yard and greeted him when he made his frequent deliveries.
Schwenk went up to the door and rang the bell. It didn’t ring. He started banging on the door and could hear the dogs “going crazy” inside.
He didn’t think there was time to wait for firefighters. He kicked down the door.
“The dog that I was familiar with was on the other side of the door, just looking at me like, ‘Get me out of here.’”
Schwenk got Hailey out of the house. Another man and woman rushed inside to get the Corgi, Blue, and the pitbull mix, Mylah, who also lived there.
After the fire, Schwenk didn’t think much of the rescue. He went back on his delivery rounds.
Glen Williams, a spokesperson for Norfolk Fire Department, said Schwenk entered the home likely “seconds” after the lightning strike.
“The fire was all in the attic,” he said. “Smoke and heat rise.”
The conditions when they entered the home would have been “perfectly clear,” Williams said.
In general, Williams advised people to not go into a burning building.
Schwenk was honored with a Compassionate Action Award by the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“PETA encourages everyone to follow his example by acting swiftly to help animals in danger, whether in a burning home, on the roadway or anywhere at all,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a news release.
The organization gave Schwenk a framed certificate, coffee, vegan chocolate, toys for his pets and a hammer for breaking dogs out of hot cars.
Schwenk later found out the black Lab Hailey used to belong to the homeowner’s brother-in-law, who died of cancer a few years ago. It was meaningful to the family, who asked not to be named, that Schwenk rescued their dogs.
Schwenk said it was something he had to do.
“You’re there at the right time, the right place,” he said. “You gotta get it done, get them out.”
Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, cianna.morales@virginiamedia.com
