Irving College boys save dogs from fire

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Cody Loggins, left, and Darrid Wells, are seen here with the three black and tan coon hounds they rescued from a burning shed, the remains of which are seen in the background.

For Irving College Elementary students Cody Loggins, 13, and Darrid Wells, 14, Jan. 8 began like any other. Little did they know that by the end of the day, they’d be minor heroes.

The boys went to school as usual that Thursday and afterward returned to Loggins’ Beersheba Highway home to jump on his trampoline before returning to the school for a late basketball practice.

“But then when we were jumping, we saw smoke coming from my neighbor’s shed about 100 feet away and we ran over there,” said Loggins. “Darrid opened the door and saw some small puppies trapped inside. We were able to save three of them, but four of the puppies and the momma got burnt to death.”

While the cause of the fire will never be known for sure, it is suspected it began when one of the puppies, all black and tan coon hounds, knocked over a light bulb, which served as a heat source for the dogs, out of its socket and which ignited straw on the floor of the shed.

The owner of the shed and the dogs, Rocky Buchanan, was at work in Sparta when the blaze began. He praised the boys’ actions and quick response.

“It was a tragic loss to be sure, but I’m grateful to them for saving three of my dogs. It’s still sorrowful I lost a momma and four puppies, and that another of my dogs was hit by a car at the same time,” he said. “But I appreciate these guys. If not for them, I would have lost nine dogs instead of only six.”

Wells said when he and Loggins first opened the shed door and saw the smoke and the flames they weren’t really that conscious of the danger posed by entering the building.

“It was kind of scary,” said Loggins, “but we weren’t really scared. We were more worried about the puppies.”

“But after we got out of there,” Wells noted, “I got to thinking about what could have happened.”

The boys said their friends and family think their feat is “pretty neat” and they are enjoying their semi-celebrity status in the halls of Irving College Elementary.

School principal Dr. David Walker had nothing but positive words about the actions of the seventh- and eighth-grade students.

“They’re both really good kids. And it’s nice to see kids get positive recognition,” Walker said.