Brandon cat saves owner from house fire

A Manitoba woman is crediting her cat with saving her from a fire that destroyed their home earlier this week.

The blaze started in the attic of Lisa Kosoir's house in Brandon, Man., early Sunday morning.

Kosoir said she was fast asleep when her cat, Opal, leapt onto her bed and started meowing.

"I was just sound asleep and my cat Opal was meowing and meowing and meowing, in a different type of meow that is not her usual, and I knew something was up," she told CBC News in an interview Tuesday.

"So when she woke me up, I woke up to the sound of this crackling sound in my house."

Kosoir said because the fire started in the attic, none of the smoke detectors went off.

Kosoir had enough time to gather a few possessions and, along with Opal, run out of the house.

The ceiling collapsed minutes after they escaped, she said.

Kosoir said the collapsed ceiling would have landed on her, while she was sleeping in bed, if it was not for Opal.

"She was just very persistent and in waking me up," Kosoir said.

"Sometimes I choose to ignore her when she meows. But this meow was a different meow, like, 'Hey man, time to get up, get out, wake up.'"