Yahoo Finance 'Hero' Florida Dog Helps Owner to Safety amid House Fire: 'She Saved My Life'
Orange County Fire Rescue Twitter
A dog in Tangerine, Florida, is being hailed as a "hero" after alerting her owner to a house fire, which ultimately helped him to safety.
On Wednesday, Joel Rosa was awoken around 3 a.m. by his pooch Maggie at their home on Clayton Street, as flames engulfed the residence.
"It was really scary," Rosa told local station WESH 2 News. "At the beginning, I thought that I [could] stop it myself even from outside."
Maggie barked and woke Rosa up, and the two were able to make a safe escape as fire crews arrived to flames shooting "through the roof," Orange County Fire Rescue spokesperson Lisa McDonald told the station.
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UPDATE: Clayton St Fire. 7000 sq ft home 80% involved. Lightning strike to the home from Mon. evening storms. Dog alerted resident to the fire and they evacuated safely. Red Cross assisting. pic.twitter.com/Keir4iVk4b
— OCFire Rescue (@OCFireRescue) July 28, 2021
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McDonald explained that crews "worked a defensive fire and were able to knock it down, it did flare back up again," and said she thought lighting from the previous day played a large part in the blaze.
"We believe it was a lightning strike from yesterday's storms that hit the house and that lightning festered inside the roof," she said. "This is a 7,000 square foot home. It's a very large home, and it was 80 percent involved with flames."
"The homeowner should definitely thank his pet for waking him up," McDonald added.
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Firefighters were eventually able to get the fire under control, but it caused a partial collapse on one side of the two-story home.
But Rosa is just thankful he and Maggie got out safely — and he can't sing her praises highly enough.
"She's my hero. I love my dog and, you know, it's amazing," he told WESH 2 News. "She saved my life."
