HAYMARKET, Va. (WUSA) – Her name is Brandy, but maybe it should be Lucky.
A dog in Virginia beat the odds and survived under rubble for six days after a house explosion.
Firefighters said they are surprised that the dog is still alive.
But it’s really good news especially after what these families and the community had to go through last week.
The dog was found on the other side of the property at the back corner, on the ground underneath parts of the wall and the roof.
An insurance inspector was combing through this property Monday morning when they heard 6-year-old Brandy barking.
Neighbors who have been in close contact with the dog owner said she suffered minors cuts and burns but is expected to make a full recovery.
This was a big moment for next door neighbors, who said they’re ecstatic that that this dog has been found.
They’ve also been helping search for two cats who are still missing.
Firefighters returned Monday afternoon with shovels in hopes of finding the cats. So far, there’s been no sign.
Last Tuesday, a contractor replacing a water line ruptured a gas line to this house. The gas leak sparked a house explosion. Soon after, residents had to evacuate.
No one was seriously hurt.
Fire marshals are still investigating the exact source of ignition.
Brandy was dropped or thrown from the second floor where she was staying with one of the families renting the home.
Lt. Mark Waldrop of Prince William County Fire said he’s “surprised, right, that a dog was able to survive that long with no food and water. It was cold at night. The fact that they put so much water on the fire when it was actually going, for the dog to survive is pretty remarkable. When you have structural collapse, you have void space that creates livable conditions for anything that may be trapped in there. Call it lucky or unlucky, the dog was in one of those spaces.”
The community is still rallying together and raising funds for the families impacted.
One way to do so is through electronic donations to the Piedmont Charitable Foundation.
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