Kids may not pay close attention to what their parents or teachers say, but that’s not the case when the one giving the life-saving lesson has four legs.
Molly, the well-known Dalmatian with painted nails, traveled 25,000 miles annually with her human partner, Dayna Hilton, to teach fire safety to children.
Although she crossed the Rainbow bridge last month, her legacy will continue through videos and other promotions. Her valuable safety messages were shared as far away as Russia.
“She just loved children,” Hilton said. “She just had a gift that started when she was about nine weeks old.”
Molly, who sported a fire helmet and scarf, showed the children how to drop low and crawl to escape smoke.
Hilton, a volunteer firefighter in Arkansas, made fire prevention her mission in 1999 when she learned that her state was ranked fourth for home fire-related deaths.
“That was unacceptable,” she said.
Not long after she hit the road with Sparkles, her first fire safety companion, Hilton got a call from a principal in Tulsa. “She shared with me that two children from separate families knew what to do in an actual fire-related situation. One of the girls was able to help with getting her dad outside. She told him he had to get down and crawl like Sparkles does.”
Hearing that so many years ago, solidified her passion for fire safety education. She knows they were getting the message across.
In addition to crawling low, Molly would start out covered up in a little bed. When the smoke alarm sounded, she’d jump out and crawl out of the room. She was taught to go to a predetermined meeting area.
Other talents included closing the door and using her nose to test a smoke detector.
But, she wasn’t limited to just hanging out with children either.
She threw out first pitches at baseball games, visited fire museums around the country and hung around with children outside a science center in Canada.
“She just loved to perform and be around people. She loved everyone.”
During their first live television show, Molly leaned over and kissed her mother’s cheek, something Hilton said she wasn’t expecting.
“We’re big fans of Chicago Fire, and they let us not only hang out at the station where it’s filmed, but we Skyped from there.”
She is featured on the back cover of Anthony Rubio’s coffee table book, Canine Couture.
Molly took every opportunity to promote fire safety education and was selected to be the official ambassador for the Superpower Dogs, an IMAX film.
“She had such an impact on so many people.”
Molly died of copper storage disease just a little over a week shy of teaching a virtual class in Idaho, which would have been her swan song – teaching in all 50 states.
“Her little brother, Boden, and I joined the children in Idaho earlier this month. He will continue to carry on the message as we have some videos planned.
Hilton says she’ll continue with the work. But, her traveling days are over.
“I really miss Molly,” she said. “We went everywhere together. I just loved her…”
