Family pet saves the day

Burke and his nine- year- old son Randy are watching a movie on Saturday night. This father- and- son ritual includes cider and pretzels. The man and boy are very close, especially since the boy's mom moved away.

This particular night the movie is less than exciting, and both dad and son fall asleep on the couch.

It's 3 am when the smoke alarm goes off. Burke- instantly awakened- leaps to his feet. He sees smoke pouring out of the hallway from the kitchen, dining room, and bedroom areas.

Without hesitation, Burke grabs his son and heads for the side door leading into the backyard. He puts his son down on the grass and returns to the house. The dad knows this is not really a good idea because some people lose their lives going back into burning homes to retrieve prized possessions.

Now in the den, Burke grabs the family pet and rushes out the side door. Moving a safe distance away from the burning house, father, son, and pet watch together as they hear the wail of approaching fire engines.

The entire rear end of the house is gutted by fire and won't be livable for several months. The fire apparently started in the kitchen, but the cause is still under investigation.

Firemen conclude the smoke alarms in the bedrooms were not audible because of corroded batteries. The sound of a smoke alarm that awakened Burke was not a smoke alarm after all. It was the sound of the family pet doing his imitation of a smoke alarm.

That's right, Harvey, the family pet, saved the day with his vocal smoke alarm- something he'd done before but never with such intensity. Harvey is a truly remarkable parrot.

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