Fire destroys Marsha Avenue home, dog missing
Jul. 25—A fire that destroyed a Marsha Avenue Southeast house Saturday night was still smoldering at noon today as its owner stared forlornly at the vintage Harley-Davidson in what once was his garage and hoped without believing that his beloved dog had survived.
Jason Hughes, who began military service in Iraq soon after 9/11, said Poot was not technically a therapy dog, but functioned as one for him. Hughes said he knew it was possible that his rat terrier had run from the house before it became engulfed in flames.
"We're hoping. He's incredibly smart," Hughes said. "I'd tell him to go get that toy and that blue ball, and he'd do it.
"I'm the only person who hasn't yelled for him yet. He knows my voice and would definitely come. But I know he's not going to come."
Hughes said he was having a lucky night at a Wetumpka casino when he got the call that his home was ablaze. He arrived at 2 a.m. while numerous firetrucks were still trying to extinguish it. When he left to stay in a hotel, the walls were still standing. When he returned today, they had collapsed.
The home is at the 4700 block of Marsha Avenue, across Interstate 65 from Fredrick's Outdoor.
Hughes said no one was injured in the fire except his son, who had a minor burn. He said he'd gladly trade all the possessions that had been destroyed for the motorcycle and his loyal dog.
"I'd take off with Poot for the woods where nobody's at, where you can't hear cars, can't hear people, where cellphones won't pick up," he said. "I'd go there with a blanket under a tree and stay for a few days. I'd never have to tie him up. Right after he got out of the truck he'd root around for wild animals, but after that he'd just sit there with me all the time."
Hughes said he believes the fire was electrical, possibly because a large inflatable for kids at a party hosted by a family member Saturday was plugged into a garage outlet.
"It definitely started inside the garage because someone left the party on the outside and they came around here and said, 'Hey man, the garage is on fire.' It got so hot that it started the house on fire," Hughes said.
Hughes stared at the destroyed motorcycle, but his thoughts would return to his Poot.
"When he was an itty bitty puppy my wife named him that because he farted all the time. As he got older he definitely lived up to that name," Hughes chuckled, either sweat or tears or both on his cheeks. "He was just like me. He was a mean, old ass—. I'd rather be left alone, and so would he."
Ornery or not, the dog loved to fetch.
"He'd bring that ball back over and over until he died," Hughes said, then sighed. "That was a bad choice of words."
— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.
