Colleen Westmoreland's children are crediting Thunder, their mother's dachshund, with saving her life.
Westmoreland, a high-ranking official with the Miami Lions Club, suffered second and third degree burns over 40 percent of her the upper torso and face. She is at Jackson Memorial Hospital's burn unit, her daughter said.
Her cinderblock family house, in an area once considered agricultural, was gutted.
''My family moved into that house in 1954 and my mother has lived there ever since,'' said Maureen Dodgen, one of Westmoreland's six children, who rushed to Miami-Dade County from her Georgia home. One of Westmoreland's sons, Patrick, trains paramedics for the Miami-Dade fire department. The blaze broke out around 4 a.m. in the single-story structure at 11035 SW 93rd St., where Westmoreland lived with her animals. It quickly spread and filled the home with smoke as Westmoreland slept.
''Her favorite dog woke her up with his barking and I think she ran to the back to help her birds. That's probably how she got burned,'' Dodgen said.
The heroic dachshund, which is 12, survived the fire, along with another dog. Two others died, Dodgen said. A cat and the birds also perished.
After the fire, Thunder hid for hours, leading Westmoreland's children to think he too was a casualty.
''Then at daylight, he came out of wherever he had been hiding. He was shaking, poor little thing,'' Dodgen said.
The dog is staying with neighbors for now.
It took several units an hour and a half to put out the fire. The neighborhood has no fire hydrants, so firefighters brought their own water supply. Thousands of gallons were used to douse the flames, fire officials said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Westmoreland retired from Bacardi USA several years ago. She was previously a long-time employee of the Miami Police Department.
In April, she was elected governor of the Miami Lions Club District 35-A, which includes Miami-Dade, parts of Broward and Monroe counties.
