Donald Hale was asleep on the couch of his Federal Way Washington home when a fire broke out.
Hale finished the longest run of his life, 13 miles, and fell into a deep sleep so he didn’t hear the smoke alarm. Fortunately, his pet bearded dragon, Spike, did, and used his long tail to repeatedly hit him in the face, alerting him just in time. “If he [didn’t] wake me up, I [wouldn’t] be here talking to y’all,” he says.
After waking, Hale discovered smoke coming from a bathroom cabinet. When he opened it, flames and pressure burst out, but he quickly backed away. He grabbed some water and managed to put the fire out. The Fire Department believes someone had poured a flammable substance down the drain, which caused the fire. Donald says he's going to kill one of his roommates for nearly killing him!
As for Spike he plans to take the reptile on a vacation to the Grand Canyon, celebrating his heroic act. “He don’t make no noise. He don’t bark. He don’t holler. But he made the loudest noise that day I ever heard in my life by banging on my face. I believe if God can make a donkey talk he can use a lizard to save my life. So I give him all the glory".