FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Sumo was awarded a medal of honor yesterday by the Honolulu Fire Department at Aikahi Fire Station. Neighborhood kids Sarah Tyler, left, and Kiana Yuen admired the medal.

Life-saving dog earns
HFD’s Medal of Valor

7-year-old Sumo, woke his owners
in time to flee a Kaneohe fire

---

By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

Abel and Lurline Degagne say their "oldest child" is a special breed.

The Honolulu Fire Department agrees.

That's why officials awarded their 7-year-old mixed-breed dog, Sumo, HFD's Medal of Valor yesterday. Sumo is the first dog ever to receive the honor.

Sumo's barking alerted the sleeping Degagnes to a fire raging in their Kaneohe home in February, allowing them to escape.

The Degagnes call Sumo and 2-year-old Millie, also a mixed breed, their children and, after the fire that destroyed their home of 21 years, they are grateful to have both.

"We lost everything," Abel Degagne, 65, said. "But we're pretty much over it now. We're happy to have each other."

Sumo received the medal, along with a doggy-treat lei, in a ceremony at Aikahi Fire Station in Kailua yesterday.

Traditionally, the award is given to civilians. But after a Star-Bulletin article on the fire identified the dog as a hero, Deputy Fire Chief John Clark decided to re-evaluate the program and extend the medal to animals who risk their lives to save others.

"He (Sumo) was doing what comes naturally ... (I am) very fortunate to be alive" because of the dog's actions, Degagne said.

It was about 1 a.m. on Feb. 16 when Lurline Degagne, 54, woke to Sumo barking fiercely.

She went to her bedroom's sliding glass door and looked out, thinking at first that Sumo sensed an intruder.

That's when she saw a glow -- from the flames that would engulf her $250,000 home -- and screamed "fire." As she ran downstairs and pulled the couple's truck out of the garage while honking its horn to alert neighbors, her husband and a neighbor sprayed water from their garden hoses on the home.

Less than five minutes after Sumo had awakened the Degagnes, the entire house at 45-218 Kokokahi Place was in flames, Abel Degagne said.

By 1:30 a.m., when fire crews arrived, many of the Degagnes' neighbors were in the street hosing down their own roofs. More than 40 firefighters responded to the fire and contained it within 30 minutes.

Seven hours later, when the fire was out, the home's roof had collapsed and the inside was gutted.

Investigators determined the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of paper towels saturated with linseed oil.

In the initial panic, the Degagnes had fled and closed the door behind them, leaving the dogs trapped inside. Realizing what happened, Lurline Degagne ran back and opened the door while calling for the dogs.

The two followed her shouts and escaped.

But Sumo, afraid of loud noises and commotion, ran into nearby hills. For hours, firefighters and neighbors searched for the dog but were unable to find him.

He returned more than 14 hours later, "when things were quieted down," Lurline Degagne said, only to be greeted with fanfare and praise from his "parents," friends and firefighters.

For Abel Degagne, Sumo's award means a lot.

"He (Sumo) doesn't realize what's going on. (But) I'm really happy" that Sumo received recognition, he said.

The Degagnes plan to begin construction soon to rebuild their home.