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Emotional support dog that went missing after house fire found safe

After an 11 hour search, a couple in Heidelberg Township who lost their emotional support dog after it ran away during a house fire has found their dog

YORK COUNTY, Pa. — After an 11 hour search, a couple in Heidelberg Township who lost their emotional support dog after it ran away in an early morning house fire has found their dog.

The dog is a black Great Dane named Caleb and belongs to Bill and Pat Miller. The dog helps Pat who has lives with low vision blindness. 

Officials said it happened around 6 a.m. Thursday on the 1500 block of Jacobs Mill Road. No one was injured. Though the house, is destroyed. The couple lost everything, from pictures, to antiques, to bibles. Even the wheelchair Pat owned was destroyed.

"I'm devastated," Miller said. "We lost everything. It just went up in ten minutes time."

During the chaos of the fire, Caleb took off.

"He's man's best friend," Miller said. "And would love the death out of ya. He's just what my wife needs."

He was spotted multiple times in the field across the street. Peggy Fry, Pat's sister, said the couple suffers from mental and physical disabilities.

"Those dogs do keep their spirits up," Fry said. "They keep them grounded and keep them going."

It took only 30 minutes for the entire house to be engulfed in flames. Fire chief Scott Rabenstine of Porters Community Fire Department said that's because the house was old. Their biggest challenge was finding water. Since there aren't any fire hydrants in the area, they had to wait for more crews to arrive.

"And it all came down to the neighbors, ya know, the neighbor man went and got his brother in law I believe and helped get him out," Rabenstine said. "If it wouldn't have been for them the outcome would've been different."

"It is what it is and with god's good grace we're going to get through this," Fry said. "That's what it's about."

Credit: FOX43

Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire. No word on the estimated cost of damages.

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