MONROE COUNTY, Fla. — A beloved law enforcement couple in the Florida Keys is on the road to recovery after a fire destroyed their home and killed their three dogs.
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Tiffany Rodda, a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy, said she noticed a commotion in the middle of the night. Then she heard fiancée, Mike Pettee, a Key West Police Department motorman, yelling for her to escape.
Rodda said she heard Pettee say, “We have to go! The house is on fire!”
According to Monroe County Fire Rescue, the fire broke out in the early morning hours of May 7th at the structure in Big Pine Key.
Pettee said it was the couple’s Belgian mallenois puppies that signaled something was wrong.
“They never bark. They don’t leave our side,” he said. “But they barked.”
“As soon as I open the door, he comes barreling in the bedroom door, and the entire bedroom fills with the thickest black smoke,” Rodda added.
Rodda jumped out the window. She said Pettee went back into the home three times, at first not realizing she was already out.
Since the pair is in law enforcement, they keep firearms securely in the house.
“And the rounds started going off,” Rodda said.
With fire burning and ammo exploding, the pair ducked for cover.
They were both taken by Trauma Star helicopter to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. Pettee had the most severe injuries.
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“He had burns to his head, neck, face, and his hands,” said Dr. Haaris Mir, a surgeon at the hospital.
Pettee also suffered burns to his lungs, was placed in a medically-induced coma, and on a ventilator for 13 days.
But Mir called his recovery “miraculous.”
The couple’s house is a loss, and all three of their dogs perished in the fire.
Yet Rodda and Pettee feel grateful for the overwhelming support from the Florida Keys community, law enforcement, as well as the medical care they’ve received.
“There is nothing like Monroe County,” Rodda said. “Truly, everyone’s support is what helped me fight for him.”
“What’s very interesting is how much I feel like I’ve also gained – in putting line what’s really, really important. A lot of it isn’t the stuff that burned in the house,” Pettee said.
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