Trixie, a 12-year-old red-haired terrier, saved two people from severe injuries seconds before a Mack truck slammed into the Southside home of Roger and Corinne Tucker Monday afternoon.

Mr. Tucker and Kim White, a family friend were sitting at the dining room table at their Aunt Jinny's Lane home when Trixie started barking erratically, explained Ms White.

The pair followed the terrier as it rushed for the back door through the kitchen. “As soon as I got to the back door the truck slammed into the house,” said Ms White.

“It wasn't until we got outside that I realised what had happened.”

Mrs. Tucker, who was in another room, came out to investigate why the dog was barking. “As I was coming out the wall came to meet me,” she told The Royal Gazette.

The living room, where her husband and Ms White had been a moment earlier, was a disaster area.

No one was in the truck. But Charles Peniston, who normally drives the truck for Correia Construction Company and lives in the neighbourhood, rushed to the scene moments later, apologising profusely for failing to pull up the truck's handbrake, according to the Tuckers.

“He said he got home at about 4.40 p.m. and the next thing he knew a neighbour was telling him a truck was leaving his yard,” Mrs. Tucker said.

Mr. Peniston could not be contacted for comment. Police spokesman Coleman Easton said charges had not been filed. “The miracle is that the dog's antics were so bad that it made my hubby and my guest move to see what was happening,” added Mrs. Tucker.

“Luckily he didn't go to open the front door (leading into the living room) to let it out.”

While Trixie is too traumatised to go back into the house, Mrs. Tucker has a bone to pick with the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC).

She said her house and other Southside properties have not been fenced off, and she has been disputing the issue since she bought the house two years ago.

“I expected fencing and kerbing at least,” she said.

A kerb on the perimeter of the property could have derailed the monster truck from striking the house, she speculated. “I am sure some barrier type of fencing would have made a difference.”

Meanwhile the Tuckers have moved into Grotto Bay Hotel while repairs are done to the house which suffered serious structural damage. No one at BLDC could be contacted for comment by presstime.