March 14, 2006 -- By Marisa Lagos

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time in the five weeks since Janette Gerl's Russian Hill apartment caught fire, the San Francisco resident has something to celebrate: Her severely burned dog, saved by her close friend, is home from the hospital.

"It's like Christmas!" said Gerl, 47. "My little boy is coming home. I am so excited. "

Bobby, a 15-pound, 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, is mostly blind, no longer has ears -- though he can still hear -- and his nose is significantly scarred.

"He keeps running into things with his nose," Gerl said, "but he's the happiest dog ever."

Bobby has undergone 10 surgeries and still has bandages covering severe burns on one of his front legs. But this afternoon, he walked out of Pets Unlimited, the San Francisco animal shelter and hospital that not only saved Gerl's "baby" but gave her another gift: It waived a bill of more than $26,000. It just so happens that when the nonprofit was chartered 60 years ago, its founders included a provision that burn victims could be treated free of charge.

The free care is just one of many generous shows of support that Gerl and her friend Michael Keenan, 43 -- who also was seriously injured in the blaze -- have received.

A recent fundraiser collected $19,000 for the continuing care of Keenan, who remains heavily sedated and in intensive care at San Francisco General Hospital after suffering burns to 80 percent of his body. He has undergone numerous skin grafts and recently came off dialysis. While doctors warn that his recovery will be difficult, they do expect him to survive.

Gerl said that about 40 people, some casual acquaintances, showed up at her house a week after the fire and helped her clean her damaged belongings. Some of the firefighters who put out the blaze even helped Gerl move into her boyfriend's home.

"All of a sudden, complete strangers come out of nowhere to save the day," she said. "I can't imagine any other city where people are so kind and gracious and incredible."

It isn't surprising that the community would come out for both Keenan and the pooch: Keenan was already known to firefighters for saving the life of a stranger in 2001, and Bobby is a fixture in Russian Hill, where he frequents a wine bar and gives patrons a "high-five" from his own chair.

The dog is certainly a character, agreed Gerl and Kristen Haviland, the veterinarian who has been caring for Bobby.

"I have never had an animal hospitalized as well as he has been," Haviland said. "He is going home because of his fortitude and nature. He's got that little terrier attitude which has taken him a long way."

And of Gerl, Haviland said, "She never lost her faith that that dog was coming home. She has an eternal optimism that is inspiring and contagious."

Gerl said she had to believe "Bob the dog" would pull through: He's been her best friend since she rescued him six years ago from a local organization that only handles Jack Russells.

"He was a scruffy, motley-looking thing, but I took one look at Bobby and for the first time believed in love at first sight," she said.

To donate to the Michael J. Keenan Support Fund, or to keep track of his condition, go to michaeljameskeenan.blogspot.com.