Cackling chickens credited with saving man's life

Tony Wells’ chickens usually don’t cackle and squawk at 3:30 in the morning, so when he heard them raising a ruckus at that time on Wednesday, he went outside to investigate.



What he found was his father’s home across the street engulfed in flames. The 27-year-old ran into the house in Rayne, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, and led David Wells Jr., 49, to safety.

“Who would’ve thought chickens would make good smoke detectors?” said Peter Yacovone, chief of the Creekside Volunteer Fire Co. “If the son hadn’t come and got him, we would’ve been fishing a body out of there.”



He continued, “[Mr. Wells] is broken-hearted, but he’s good. He got out in the nick of freakin’ time.” The fire, believed to have been electrical in nature, started in the garage and spread to the second storey and attic of the home, leaving it standing but heavily damaged, the chief said.