A dogged little cat named Baby is credited with saving her family members from a house fire.
It was just past 12 a.m. early Monday morning in suburban Chicago when Baby's owners,
Letitia Kovalovsky -- seven months pregnant with twins -- and her partner, Josh Omberg, were sleeping on a couch in their living room, reports the Chicago Tribune. Unbeknownst to the slumbering couple, a fire had erupted in the back bedroom where they normally slept. But
Baby, their 13-year-old white, brown and gray tabby, immediately sensed the danger.
"The cat jumped on the [sleeping] homeowner and kept coming back, which was unusual," Carrie Ozog, a firefighter and paramedic with the
Wonder Lake Fire Protection District, who was on the scene, tells Paw Nation. "The homeowner woke up and saw an orange glow. When he stood up, he saw the house was filled with smoke."
Firefighters racing to the scene saw the blaze from a block away. "The flames were shooting twelve feet high from the northeast corner of the house," says Ozog. The entire family, including Baby and a pet dog, were safely outside the house and unhurt.
Within fifteen minutes, the fire was under control, says Ozog. But everything in the bedroom, including baby items and two cribs in a front room were destroyed by the fire and smoke. (An
estimated $115,000 in damage was caused and the couple lost about $60,000 worth of personal property, reports the Chicago Tribune.)
"The smoke detectors weren't working," Ozog tells Paw Nation, explaining that the cause of the fire was being investigated, but that it was not considered suspicious. "It was extremely lucky the couple were sleeping in the living room and not the bedroom. It could have been disastrous."
Meanwhile,
Baby the hero cat disappeared from the scene a few hours later, possibly spooked by all the activity at the house, reports Northwest Herald. "Family members are searching for the cat and they'll let us know when they find her," says Ozog, adding that the Wonder Lake Firefighters Association is collecting donations of cash and baby items for the family.
For further information, call 815-728-0088, or send mail to P.O. Box 447, Wonder Lake, IL 60097.
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