Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\nTiffany Rodda, a Monroe County Sheriff\u2019s deputy, said she noticed a commotion in the middle of the night. Then she heard fianc\u00e9e, Mike Pettee, a Key West Police Department motorman, yelling for her to escape. <\/p>\n
Rodda said she heard Pettee say, \u201cWe have to go! The house is on fire!\u201d <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Pettee said it was the couple\u2019s Belgian mallenois puppies that signaled something was wrong. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey never bark. They don\u2019t leave our side,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they barked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I open the door, he comes barreling in the bedroom door, and the entire bedroom fills with the thickest black smoke,\u201d Rodda added. <\/p>\n
Rodda jumped out the window. She said Pettee went back into the home three times, at first not realizing she was already out. <\/p>\n
Since the pair is in law enforcement, they keep firearms securely in the house. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the rounds started going off,\u201d Rodda said. <\/p>\n
With fire burning and ammo exploding, the pair ducked for cover. <\/p>\n
They were both taken by Trauma Star helicopter to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. Pettee had the most severe injuries. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe had burns to his head, neck, face, and his hands,\u201d said Dr. Haaris Mir, a surgeon at the hospital. <\/p>\n
Pettee also suffered burns to his lungs, was placed in a medically-induced coma, and on a ventilator for 13 days. <\/p>\n
But Mir called his recovery \u201cmiraculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s house is a loss, and all three of their dogs perished in the fire. <\/p>\n
Yet Rodda and Pettee feel grateful for the overwhelming support from the Florida Keys community, law enforcement, as well as the medical care they\u2019ve received. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing like Monroe County,\u201d Rodda said. \u201cTruly, everyone\u2019s support is what helped me fight for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s very interesting is how much I feel like I\u2019ve also gained – in putting line what\u2019s really, really important. A lot of it isn\u2019t the stuff that burned in the house,\u201d Pettee said. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONROE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A beloved law enforcement couple in the Florida Keys is on the road to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-285765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}