Reluctant Penelope Plucked From Blaze

As rescues go, it was not the most dramatic. And rookie Police Officer Roy Griffith had to drag Penelope, the springer spaniel, by her collar out of the burning home in Orange on Friday morning.

He had some help from a Southern California Edison Co. meter reader and a park ranger. Both reached the blaze in the 2100 block of Cleveland Street before the Fire Department.

But that probably didn’t matter much to Peggy and Donald George, whose beloved pet had survived the 11 a.m. fire that destroyed their entire roof, forcing them to find other lodgings.

The blaze caused an estimated $140,000 damage, Battalion Chief Doug Flaherty said, and firefighter Dean Crockett suffered a burned wrist fighting the flames.

Only Penelope was home when an electrical short behind a clothes dryer apparently triggered the fire, Griffith said.

“Originally, it started growling at me,” the 27-year-old officer said of the reluctant pooch. “But after I latched onto (her) collar and grabbed (her) outside, (she) was glad to see daylight.

“To be honest with you, we didn’t think of confronting the dog; we figured when we opened the front door the dog would just run out,” Griffith said. “But she wasn’t going out on her own.”