Prominent Middletown businesswoman Mary Jane Palmer prayed all the way to her Sycamore Terrace home Monday afternoon.
Smoke filled the sky above the large brick home she shares with her husband, Richard Nunlist. But she didn’t ask God to save her material possessions. She was more interested in her dog, Sweetheart.
Her prayers were answered. Surrounded by friends and neighbors, tears streamed down Palmer’s face as Middletown Fire Lt. Brett Rose emerged with the little yorkie mix breed dog.
“This is all I care about,” Palmer said with a smile, not even turning to look at her home that was crawling with firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. She looked at the 6-year-old dog and said, “I prayed all the way here for you.”
Rose said he found the little canine in an upstairs bathroom using one of the department’s thermal-imaging cameras.
He said he and fellow firefighter Steve Riley have had a good run of luck. “I found the dog in the last fire,” he said.
Palmer, owner of Middletown’s Palmer Group and Nunlist, company vice president, received word of the fire at about 4:15 p.m. when the home security alarm was activated. Nunlist was first on the scene and he was very concerned about Sweetheart.
Neighbor Bobby Rock said Nunlist came to his house looking for a ladder to climb up on to a back balcony to rescue the dog. Middletown dispatchers urged Nunlist not to go into the residence.
When Deputy Chief Dennis Sorrell arrived, he attempted a quick rescue of the pup, but the smoke was thick and had filled the house. That left the work up to the firefighters in full gear.
Sweetheart was treated at the fire scene with oxygen from paramedics and Rock provided a bowl of cold water, then Palmer took him to the veterinarian for a check up.
Sorrell said the fire began in the basement and caused $50,000 in damages to the structure and $100,000 to the contents.
Fire investigators are continuing to look for the cause.
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