WESTBROOK — When the smoke detector went off in Vera’s Waltham Street home Tuesday morning, she knew she had to exit the house. 

Alone and with no way to quiet the blaring alarm, she panicked and headed to the third floor, where she found an open window leading to the roof. The sloped angle of the pitched surface made climbing out difficult, but for all Vera knew, this was a life or death situation. She scrambled her way across the roof, clinging to the shingles for traction, and waited for help to arrive as a crowd of onlookers assembled. 

An hour and a half later, with the alarm silenced and no danger found, the Westbrook Fire Department rescued the 8-year-old pit bull mix and pulled her to safety.

“We’ve saved a lot of animals from very precarious situations, but a dog on a roof? I don’t recall that ever happening before,” Fire Capt. Mark Theriault said. “You don’t see that every day.”

The unusual situation was first spotted by a neighbor who called Westbrook Animal Control. Attempts to coax Vera inside were unsuccessful, resulting in a call to the Fire Department for backup. Theriault said it took 20 minutes to lure Vera in through a skylight. As for the cause of the alarm: low batteries that desperately needed to be replaced.

While the mayhem unfolded on the quiet road adjacent to Main Street, the neighbor made another call – to Vera’s unsuspecting owner. Alex Steed, who was in Fryeburg the morning of Oct. 3, said he “feared for the worst” when he heard the news and rushed home.

“I am extraordinarily grateful to Westbrook emergency services for coming through for us,” Steed said. “Particularly Rachael Welsh, who is the firefighter who risked her life – legit – to save a dog.”

What could have been a harrowing tragedy instead had a happy ending. And, if nothing else, may it serve as a cautionary tale on the importance of replacing smoke detector batteries.

Kate Gardner can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 125 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @katevgardner. 

Vera, an 8-year-old pit bull mix, escaped to the roof of her Westbrook home on Oct. 3 after being spooked by a smoke detector alarm.