Tehachapi News

Rescue dogs survive fire

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Flames raced through a hillside home in Cummings Valley on Saturday, April 25, injuring four German Shepherd rescue dogs and destroying their owner’s modular home. An additional 18 dogs were unharmed and have been safely relocated.

“Material things I can always replace. But my animals, that’s something else,” said property owner Grace Konosky, who operates German Shepherd Rescue in Cummings Valley as a non-kill sanctuary for aged and unadoptable dogs. “As long as my dogs are safe, I couldn’t care less about the place burning.”

Konosky spends the weekends at the the Burbank rescue kennel she’s operated with her daughter for 27 years. She said she was planning to sell the Burbank kennel in June, in order to continue funding the Tehachapi sanctuary she has called home for the past seven years.

Konosky’s four personal pets, dogs deemed unsuitable adoption due to age and temperament, suffered from smoke inhalation, singed fur and nose and paw burns.

Hutchinson to the rescue

The dogs were rescued from further harm by the quick action of local Bear Valley Police Officer Laura Hutchinson.

Hutchinson was on routine patrol when she saw smoke coming from a nearby hillside on land that abuts Bear Valley Springs. Upon arrival, she found flames consuming about one quarter of the modular home. Hutchinson radioed in an alarm before she entered the home and began searching the rooms. Flames and smoke forced her to retreat.

Konosky explained that the dogs were in the house, with doggy door access to the fenced yard surrounding the modular home.

Hutchinson opened a fence that allowed the four dogs inside to escape, Konosky said.

“If it wasn’t for her, the dogs would have been dead,” Konosky said.

Hutchinson helped get the dogs to Tehachapi Veterinary Hospital, where two will remain for another couple of weeks, Konosky said.

“Max is big, heavy and old so I sometimes leave the front door open,” Konosky said. “Two ran up the hill and the other two (Pawja and Baily) ran back in the house again. That’s how they got burnt.”

The other two injured dogs were released the day after the fire.

Dogs recovering

Chief of Police Jeff Kermode was off duty and driving in the Cummings Valley area when he also saw the smoke and heard Hutchinson's radio call. Kermode helped Hutchinson secure the traumatized dogs.

Police officers and firefighters had to use a tarp and a wheel barrow to move an injured and disoriented Pawja into one of the property’s large kennels where the additional rescue dogs remained safe, away from the flames

“He’s my baby,” Konosky said about the very large dog, as she visited him at the Tehachapi Veterinary Hospital last week.

Shaved and bandaged, Pawja now resembles a doleful lion who has survived a vicious battle.

Max is one of the two lucky dogs who escaped more serious burns.

Konosky discovered Max at the Burbank shelter where he had been deemed unfit for adoption. Police found him locked inside a home with the decomposing body of his deceased master.

Konosky said she befriended the dog by bringing him 4-5 bacon cheese burgers each time she visited him at the shelter.

“When I ran out of cheeseburgers he’d growl and retreat into his igloo,” Konosky said. “Eventually he learned to trust me.”

Community help needed

Neighbor Mary Casey, who alerted Konosky to the fire by phone, stood stunned and saddened to see the sanctuary completely destroyed.

“It's been a real asset to this valley. Any community outreach will be badly needed and very much appreciated.”

Konosky said she’s determined to rebuild the sanctuary and continue living in Tehachapi with her dogs. She hopes to secure enough donations to help clear the property and provide a new, temporary living space until she can sell the Burbank kennel.

County fire units from as far away as Mojave and Keene responded to the Tehachapi area including 32 fire personnel, as well as Engine 916 from the prison fire department.

No human injuries were reported. Losses were estimated to be about $150,000 according, to Batallion Chief Steve Kinsey. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

For more information or to donate to the German Shepherd Rescue visit www.gsrescue.org or call (818) 558-7560. Donations to help cover the injured dogs’ veterinary expenses can be made at Tehachapi Veterinary Hospital, 20693 Woodford Tehachapi Rd.

Posted May 5, 2009; Volume 110 - No. 4, print edition May 6, 2009.