Dog saves blind man, uncle from Vancouver house fire

A Vancouver man and his visually impaired nephew escaped a house fire thanks to their rescue dog.

Leo Perry and his nephew, Lawrence, live in a two-storey house on Euclid Avenue in East Vancouver. Lawrence was woken early Sunday morning by his eight-year-old German shepherd, Coda, and some strange crackling and popping sounds. The dog also alerted Leo.

According to CTV Vancouver, the two men managed to get out of the house safely before the smoke alarms even went off.

“The dog woke them up,” Battalion Chief Jim Booth of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services told reporters. “It heard the noise and like all good pets do, they make sure their owners get out.”

A neighbour woken by the light of the flames called 911. The fire was quickly extinguished, reports CBC News, but not before seriously damaging the back deck and rear of the house.

The size of the fire can be seen in a video posted to Twitter by CBC reporter Gian-Paolo Mendoza:

Fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze and the fire did not reach the inside of the house.

Leo and Lawrence give all the credit to Coda, whom they adopted as a rescue dog.

“He saved the house and myself,” Leo said.