by Heather Graf
LEWSIBURG, Tenn. - Man's best friend is earning his title in Bedford County. A homeowner there said his three jack Russell terriers saved his life during an early morning fire.
It happened at a mobile home on Jack Pickle Road in Lewisburg.
Doyce Mitchell says he was sound asleep at 6:30 a.m. That's when smoke started to fill the home, as flames raged in the back room.
Mitchell says the only reason he's still alive is because his dogs woke him up.
"They just started jumping on me," he said. "Barking and raising cane and pulling on me, and I sat up, and my head was in smoke."
He says that warning gave him just enough to escape the flames.
"I wouldn't be here right now, I'd be dead," he said. "My mom and dad would be burying me."
Now, he plans to spoil Luke, Fiddle, and Pinch even more than before. His parents say they'll do the same.
"How close I came to losing him, it was scary, very scary," said Doyce's mother, Naomi Mitchell.
Firefighters say the blaze started in a fuse box that was mounted on the outside of Doyce Mitchell's mobile home.
They were able to contain the flames to one room, but smoke damage destroyed just about everything.
Doyce and all three dogs are now staying with family members, until they find a new place to live.
email: hgraf@newschannel5.com
