3:55 p.m. - Susan Wingerter was trying to nap on the living room floor with her 19-month-old grandson Tuesday morning when her dog began to bark.

The family pet, a sheltie named Kollie Rose, was warning them of a fire that had started at the other end of the Skyway Park Village mobile home No.1914.

Wingerter, who works nights, abandoned her nap when she saw a thick cloud of smoke in the hallway. She picked up her grandson and ran to her neighbor's house. The neighbor called 911 and other people who lived nearby tried to rescue Kollie Rose.

The dog was trapped in her kennel on the south end of the mobile home. A sliding glass door blocked the escape path.

All attempts to rescue Kollie Rose failed. John Brocker, one of the first police officers at the scene, said the mobile home was filled with smoke when he arrived. He and his partner decided it would be too risky to break the glass and try to find the dog. They said they didn't see any movement inside.

Smoke was still billowing from the mobile home more than an hour later when Wingerter's grown son, Don, showed up. He became emotional as he talked to the Bismarck police chaplain about the fire and Kollie Rose. His son was the child in the mobile home.

Wingerter's other two children, who lived with her in the mobile home, were at school when the fire began.

By the time firefighters found the dog, the mobile home was scorched from top to bottom. A black interior was exposed through the big holes cut into the side of the house. Fire officials said it was an entire loss.

Bismarck Fire Department Assistant Chief Kermit Schaffer said firefighters tried to go into the mobile home when they first arrived, but the fire was too intense. They pulled out and fought it from the outside.

"We had flames coming out of all the doors and windows," he said.

After the dog was found, Wingerter and her son came out of their neighbor's mobile home. Wingerter was in stocking feet and had a Red Cross blanket pulled tightly around her shoulders. She was crying.

Kollie Rose was wrapped in a white blanket and carried away from the mobile home by the chaplain. The Wingerters wanted to keep the bundle for burial.

"She's a lot more than just a pet," Wingerter said of the dog. "She's been with us for 10 years."

The mobile home belongs to Wingerter's parents. She said they have insurance. The cause and origin of the fire are unknown.

The Red Cross offered to put up the family for the next three days.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)