Man in critical condition after rescuing dog

SAN FRANCISCO – A Maine native who was hailed as a hero for saving a drowning woman years ago was hospitalized in critical condition Friday with burns on 80 percent of his body after rescuing a dog from a burning building.

Michael Keenan’s chances of survival are 50-50, said doctors at San Francisco General Hospital. The 43-year-old artist injured himself when he ran back into a friend’s burning house – which he had escaped safely – to rescue a Jack Russell terrier on Tuesday. He’s undergone the first of what doctors said might be several surgeries.

The 10-year-old dog named Bobby was also severely burned in the process, and might not survive.

On Christmas Day 2001, Keenan had jumped into San Francisco Bay to save a couple he didn’t know, who had accidentally driven into the water. Keenan used a wrench to smash the back window of the submerged car and pulled the woman to safety, but her husband, who was learning to drive, did not survive.

Friends of Keenan, who grew up in Yarmouth, Maine, have established a fund to help pay for his hospital expenses.

For information on Keenan’s condition and on the fund, visit online: http://www.michaeljameskeenan.blogspot.com