HAYMARKET, Va. — Six days after a house exploded in Haymarket, a dog has been rescued alive from the rubble.
The house exploded on Oct. 15 after a general contractor working on a water main break hit a gas line. Two families living in the house were displaced, and a dog and two cats had been missing ever since.
Until Monday, when crews from Prince William County’s Fire Department were called after an insurance inspector heard barking from within the collapsed house. Crews worked to free 6-year-old Brandy and were able to reunite her safely with her family.
Neighbors said Brandy was staying on the second floor of the house when it exploded. The dog was found in the corner of the property underneath a pile of interior walls and roof.
"When you have structural collapse, you have a void space that creates livable conditions for anything that may be trapped in there," Lt. Mark Waldrop of the Prince William Co. Fire Dept. told WUSA9. "Call it or lucky or unlucky, the dog was in one of those spaces."
"We're surprised that a dog was able to survive that long with no food or water," he added. "It was cold at night. The fact that they put so much water on the fire when it was actually going, and for the dog to survive is pretty remarkable."
Officials said the dog is expected to make a full recovery. Neighbors close to the dog owner said Brandy suffered minor cuts and burns.
The two cats are still missing. Firefighters returned in the afternoon with shovels in hopes of finding the cats, but there was no progress.
Community members and local police have been collecting donations for the two families, who lost their home and belongings in the explosion.