Hero pooch saves Baldwin man from fire

Being 11 years old, Dan Rennus's dog, Teddy, hadn't had the energy to jump up on Rennus's bed for several years. But with the Baldwin resident sound asleep as smoke began filling his apartment above the New Old Venice Inn on Merrick Road, Teddy went up and jolted his owner awake — just moments before the room went up in flames.

“He's the little hero,” Rennus said.

Over the years, Rennus said, he and Teddy have developed their own way of communicating. If Teddy puts a paw on him, it means he's hungry. If Teddy nudges him harder, it means he needs to go out. So when Teddy began nudging him the night of May 3, Rennus didn't think much of it. “So I don't react, he smacks me again,” Rennus said. “I said 'Teddy, come on, I just let you out an hour ago. Let's go back to bed.' And he smacks me again.”

But this time, Teddy wasn't just looking to go outside — he was trying to save his owner's life.

Within moments, Rennus smelled the smoke. He recalled hearing fire engines nearby just as the fire alarm in his apartment went off. Still not fully aware of the danger he was in, Rennus said he went into the kitchen to get a wet rag to cover the fire alarm. At that time, a “massive blast of black smoke” came in through the ceiling and nearly knocked him unconscious. Thinking quickly, Rennus grabbed a few items — keys, his wallet, and, of course, Teddy — and ran downstairs.

“We got to the bottom of the stairs and we saw the fire trucks coming,” Rennus said. “I look up, and only about five minutes after Teddy woke me up, I see flames coming out of my window.”

Rennus remembers going to the Irish Pub across the street from his apartment later that night. As firefighters came in and out of the bar for drinks of water, nearly all of them were looking for the heroic Teddy, who has 10 different neck bandanas, but was wearing his volunteer fire department bandana that night.

As it happened, Teddy, a senior citizen in human years, was the first rescue worker on the scene.

Even as Rennus explained the heroic actions of his loyal companion that night, he was saddened that everything he owned was lost in the fire. Some priceless items included family photographs and the ashes of past pets. “That apartment was full of my life,” he said.

But having moved into the apartment after a divorce, Rennus said, he spent a lot of time thinking about his past, and he never really got to start over. If he takes anything positive from the tragedy of losing everything, it may be an opportunity to get a fresh start.

“My mental state was 'I want to go back to that life,'” he said. “But almost everything is gone, so nothing's holding me back. It's going to free me for another life.”

Rennus was put up in a hotel by the Nassau Red Cross for a couple of days, and has several friends who have offered to give him a place to stay.

And Teddy?

“Look at him,” Rennus said. “He became like the little local hero.”