Olson's dog Freddie. Photo provided by Eric Olson
FALMOUTH, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – Tenants were quickly evacuated from a Falmouth motel after a fire broke out early Wednesday morning.
Eric Olson, manager of the South Cape Motel in Falmouth’s Waquoit Village, said his dog Freddie was first to tell him about the fire.
"My dog was one of the first alerts," he said. "At 4:30 my dog was up and about and barking."
Olson said Freddie must have smelled the smoke coming from one of the rooms in the motel. Right after he started barking, the smoke alarm went off.
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By the time police and fire officials showed up, everyone was already evacuated.
“The fire department went from room to room,” Olson said. “To make sure everyone was out of the building.”
Olson said the tenant who was in the room where the fire started was an elderly man who just got out of the hospital following a hip replacement. He was pulled out by another tenant and later received medical attention at Falmouth Hospital.
“He was taken away and put in an ambulance for smoke inhalation,” Olson said.
The motel is made up of two buildings that are all under one alarm system. That system allowed all tenants to be evacuated, but not before Freddie jumped into action.
WBZ’s Laurie Kirby (@LaurieWBZ) has more on Freddie's part in getting people to safety:
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