Fire survivor "Boozer" rests after making small attempts to play with a ball.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
WINLOCK – Boozer, an 11-year-old black Labrador, is slowly recovering from burns that singed his face and fur and left wounds on his paws and an elbow.
He and two female Labradors escaped or were rescued when a small barn used as a kennel went up in flames early last week at the Winlock home of Tina and Bill Powe and their two teenaged children.
Ten other dogs and a litter of five-week-old puppies weren’t so lucky.
Tina Powe
Many more of the family’s Labradors and some who are being boarded temporarily were unhurt because they were housed in another building and an outside kennel.
The Powe property is home of Pridezion Labrador Retrievers, a breeding and obedience training facility on the 700 block of South Military Road.
“Some people think it’s kind of silly to hurt this bad over it, but they were family,” Tina Powe said.
Powe calls the building that burned the “nursery”. It’s where retired dogs and puppies slept in pens.
The fire investigator says the cause of the fire will be listed as undetermined.
There was just too much damage to pinpoint it, but more than likely was related to a heat lamp, Fire Investigator Jay Birley said yesterday.
Exactly what happened is somewhat unclear.
Firefighters from three departments called about 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 22 found the metal barn fully involved in flames and fought it defensively.
Tina Powe said she was awakened by dogs barking and saw a glow through a window. When she opened her front door, Boozer and two female Labradors were standing on the front steps, she said.
She and her husband went outside and tried to rescue dogs, she said.
“Oh my God it was hot, so hot,” she said. “And I didn’t know smoke was solid.”
Bill Powe ended up with burns on his hands and stomach. Tina Powe collapsed.
“It felt like my spirit was leaving me. I felt like I was dying,” she said dissolving into a sob and then taking a moment to breathe slowly. “I can’t talk about that.”
Friends of the family, two men and two teenage boys took care of retrieving the casualties and took them to Aberdeen to be cremated.
They are all together in an oversized wooden urn that yesterday sat on a china hutch in the family’s dining room.
They’ve gotten the go-ahead from the insurance company to tear down the building, and yesterday worked on reinforcing the outdoor kennel with tarps for warmth.
The contents were not insured, so they face replacing all their dog-care supplies, such as food and supplements, blankets, toys and leashes, she said.
Boozer, a retired stud and hunting dog, rested on a blanket in the living room.
His eyes itch, she said. His paws are still swollen, but the skin has grown back. He’s been on antibiotics and pain medicine.
“This has taken a lot out of him,” Tina Powe said.
Just yesterday morning, she said, his ball was nearby, tucked inside a “chucker” and he was trying to get it out to play.
“This is how I knew he was okay,” she said.
The small barn that was used a a nursery for Pridezion Labrador Retrievers will soon be torn down.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Tina,
I would not have been anywhere else but by your side. i hope you know just how much I cherish our friendship.
Like ya lol
i can see how they are so upset, i’m sadend, dogs are much more than a bunch of animals. the more love you give to a dog the more they give back. i think these people are good and do the best they can.
I have been meaning to sit down and write something that could somehow express our thanks to each and every one of my family and friends that have supported us during this. I remember waking up and seeing my mama’s face and remember thinking “Oh thank God”. Mama and Sara Slick (White Thorn Labradors) (who also lost “kids” in the fire) were there to help me through those first few days. Also the Jones/Martin family, Diane,Stan,(Coree,Shelby and Shyanne (my heart children). You will search the world over and never find a family as amazing as this one, truly a part of our family forever. Thank you, we love you. Kanan Andersen, our nephew, he, Stan, Jim Thompson did what we couldn’t bear to do by removing those we lost from the ashes. Christa and Jim Thompson of Whiskey Creek Golden’s dropped everything that morning and came running. Christa is my show buddy and we hilariously call each other our “weekend wives”. Aaron and Julia Zucati/ Scatter Creek Labradors , thank you so much for the gift of “Hope” and the potato soup. Amanda Dearing, (Rivermark Labradors), Jan Cameron (Dunrobin Labradors),Sue Ohlke McDermid(Kilmaurs Labradors),Janice Kivimaki (Madabout Labs). These ladies started a love crusade on our behalf and so many others ,names of whom I am not aware. We love you and cannot thank you enough, there are no words. Our children Whitney Powe and Brent Powe, you stood up and became that solid fortress for our family, doing what needed to be done, our daddy and I are awestruck, we are so blessed with you. Jordan Rashoff and Aleyshia Barr, thank you so much for everything, we love you!
Literally hundreds of people have contacted us with their thoughts and prayers , you have been the glue these last three weeks that kept us help up. May God Bless each and every one of you.
Thank you,
Bill and Tina
Some people asked me “why in the world is she so hurt over a bunch of dogs”…and my answer the them was, “because shes been breeding dogs for years, and she takes her job seriously. Her dogs to her are like family to you. She loves what she does so to have to sit there and listen to her animals suffer like that would definately upset her.” it makes me angry sometimes how inconsiderate some people can be about another persons feelings. Her family understands how tramatic this has been for her and what shes going through. To us, its a big deal. We have her family (Tina, Bill, Whitney, and Brent) in our prayers 🙂 and we love our aunt very much.
Tina Is my daughter and Bill Is my son, there loss of the dogs was a tragedy. I live in Marysville WA and when I got the call I packed a bag and headed to my kids.. When I arrived My granddaughter Whitney said she got them to sleep.. Bill couldn’t sleep and got up, he was so devastated, I went in to see my daughter and when I sat down on the bed she did not know me, she look at me and asked where are my babies. I held her till she went to sleep. This family has put there heart and soul in to their dogs and they love each dog like family. There has been such a huge response for there loss from other breeders and friends and family, and I want to say thank you for prayers and your love for my family.. From my heart thank you.
Iam sorry for your loss… ” chip” who was Bill’s “right hand man” was a great loss to my brother in law.. I always admired the way the two of them interacted together… Iam so sorry brother, I love you. When ever anybody needs anything, my brother in law is the first to step up no questions asked, even tho he suffers great pain within his body due to two failed back surgeries. Bill is the best brother in law , I could ask for. Thank you my brother, for being an equal to my sister an taking care of her. To the kids: whitney and Brent , aunt RinRin loves you, and Iam sorry for your loss. May God look down upon this extrodindary family an bless them.. For they all as a family are just that.. A blessing to all who know them! Love Trina
This remarkable breeding program and people of whom you speak is my family. Tina, is my sister and Bill my brother in law. The events that are spoken of here in this news article, I myself cannot bear to imagine how they both felt. For years I have been by my sister and Bill’s side each time they experienced the loss of one of their ” kids”. I say that because that is in fact what the entire kennel is to them… Family. My sister and I have always been close, like twins one might say. As a child my sister, who was attending kindergarten, would arrive at the daycare after school in my favorite red wagon!! She would then pull me all the way home. To you my sis and bill, I luv u!