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School bus driver saves home from fire

Tammy Ritter, a driver in Baldwin City, Kansas, discovered that a doghouse on the porch of a house had caught fire. She threw it onto the front lawn, stomped out most of the flames, and called the fire department, preventing the fire from spreading to the house.

February 2, 2015
2 min to read


BALDWIN CITY, Kan. — Tammy Ritter, a bus driver for Baldwin City Unified School District 348, saved a home from catching on fire last week while she was driving on her morning route, Lawrence Journal-World reports.

Ritter discovered that a doghouse on the porch of Lori and Dennis Lederer’s home had caught on fire, according to the newspaper. She realized no one was home, threw the doghouse onto the front lawn, stomped out as many of the flames as she could, called the fire department and brought the dog with her to the next stop on her route, Lawrence Journal-World reports. She told Tiffany Paulick, the mother of the students who lived near that stop, about the fire. Paulick went to the Lederers’ home, found a hose and put out the smoldering remains of the doghouse.

Meanwhile, Lori Lederer got a call that morning from her son-in-law, who is a firefighter, according to the newspaper. He told her there had been a fire at her home, but that firefighters had arrived to find that Ritter and Paulick’s efforts had prevented it from spreading.

Ritter returned to the house with the dog after dropping off her students at school. The only damage to the house was a dark stain on the porch floor and small singe on the siding, according to the newspaper. The marks are evidence of what could have been a disaster for the Lederers if not for the timely actions of Ritter and Paulick, Lori Lederer told Lawrence Journal-World.

To read the full story, go here.

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