Dog Alerts Plainfield Family to Late-Night Fire That Destroyed Home

Peyton the yellow Labrador retriever is being credited with saving a  mom and her two sons from a fire early Friday morning.

Sharon Berger said she was sleeping in her downstairs bedroom in the 16000 block of River Road when she heard the family dog begin barking at around 12:45 a.m.

“Peyton was barking, but he barks at everything,” she said.

But the persistent pooch woke up her older son, Alex, 13, who knew something was wrong.

Looking outside, he could see that the garbage can was on fire on the back porch.

“I saw the red glowing,” he said. Alex ran downstairs to wake his mother.

Berger said she grabbed the fire extinguisher, but by the time she opened the back door, the smoke was overpowering.

“I said, ‘Everybody out,’” Berger said, adding she ushered the two kids — still clad in their pajamas — and the dog out the front door.

“We had no shoes on, nothing,” she said.

Embers from discarded fire pit ashes may be to blame for the fire, according to  Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton.

Berger said her sons had a campfire in the fire pit two days ago.

“Yesterday, Alex was cleaning out the fire pit and he dumped the ashes in the garbage,” she said. She believes there were also some aerosol cans in the garbage bin that may have contributed to the fire.

“The house is probably lost,” Stratton said, adding last night’s high winds contributed to the fire, causing it to spread quickly from the basement to the attic at the back of the house.

Berger, who rents the home, said most of the family’s belongings were also lost, but it could be worse. Up until recently, she stored inflatables for her business, Party Hoppers, at the home.

“I just moved them [into storage] last fall,” she said.

Bob Cacic, Berger’s ex-husband and dad to Alex and Matt, 9, agreed it could have been much worse.

“All this is just stuff,” he said, gesturing at the small pile of items the family was able to salvage. “I’m so glad they got out … I’m very thankful this morning.”

Stratton said he was impressed by the actions of Peyton.

“It was amazing,” said Stratton, who is the handler for Blaze, the fire department’s arson investigation dog, also a yellow Lab. “It’s close to my heart.”

Since the early morning hours, neighbors and friends have been working to organize a collection of clothing and other items for the family.

Friend Diana Beckman is volunteering her home, 16065 Renwick Park Drive, as a drop-off point for donations.

Staff members at , 15105 S. James St. at the corner of Lockport and James streets, are also offering up their office as a drop site. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.

The following donations would greatly help the family:

• Boys clothing sizes 8 and 10/12 and shoes in kids size 2 and mens size 8-1/2
• Women's clothes in size medium
• Toiletries including shampoo, soap, deodorant and makeup
• Gift cards for clothing stores, Meijer and Jewel-Osco

Heather Jelic, a staff member at Century 21, said the boys love soccer and baseball, so she's also hoping to collect sports equipment.

Friend Kathy Lang said she is pleased to see the community step up to help Berger.

“She has given to the community so much,” Lang said. “It’s time to give back to her.”

Berger said she and the kids plan to stay with her mother.

For more information on how you can help, call Century 21 Pro-Team at 815-436-4416.

Editor's note: The original version of this story incorrectly spelled the dog's name.