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Cat alerts owner to potential fire

Mary Miltenberger holds Tigger, who she credits with saving her from a potential fire at their apartment in West Chester Twp.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Mary Miltenberger holds Tigger, who she credits with saving her from a potential fire at their apartment in West Chester Twp.

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By Rick McCrabb, Columnist Updated 7:12 AM Thursday, September 16, 2010

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Tigger the cat doesn’t like smoke.

When his owner, Mary Miltenberger, grabs a cigarette and lighter, Tigger leaves the room.

“Crazy isn’t it?” Miltenberger asked.

That’s nothing compared to what happened to Miltenberger and Tigger on Monday, Sept. 13, in their Woodbridge On the Lake apartment complex.

When Miltenberger got off work from Tim Hortons in Monroe, where she is a supervisor, she was worn out from the hectic weekend. She celebrated her 44th birthday on Sept. 10.

After work, she had two beers, turned on the air conditioner in the living room, the TV in her bedroom, then laid down.

She quickly fell asleep, then, a few minutes later, Tigger banged her forehead against Miltenberger’s forehead. She pushed the cat away.

“Please Tigger,” she told her cat. “Stop, mommy is tired.”

Tigger typically tries to wake up his owner in the morning when it’s time to eat. Tigger waits until Miltenberger has pushed the snooze button twice.

This was no wake-up call.

Maybe last call — the difference between life and death.

Miltenberger said when she got out of bed and walked out in the living room, she smelled what appeared to be smoke. The air conditioner had stopped. She climbed on a chair, put her hand near the conditioner and she could feel the heat.

She walked out on the patio, but didn’t see any smoke.

She unplugged the AC and called the apartment complex maintenance department. An office manager said a breaker in the conditioner probably would have shut off the unit before it caught fire.

Miltenberger isn’t so sure. She listens to her heart.

“Thank God for Tigger,” Miltenberger said while sitting in her apartment. “And whoever would have thought it was a cat. You usually think of dogs doing this kind of thing.”

Miltenberger worries most about her neighbors in the 12-unit complex.

“If there’s a fire, there would be a lot of damage,” she said.

Tears filled her eyes.

“There’s an older woman and she has a cat,” Miltenberger said. “She probably would have ... God knows what would have happened. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Miltenberger, who is divorced, has one son, Matthew, 22. His pictures are displayed throughout the apartment, and on the kitchen table sits a baby book.

Don’t look there for Matthew. Only pictures of Tigger and his brother and sister — Rescue and Ocean — are in the album.

Miltenberger saved the cats from a shelter. Tigger paid her back.

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