Local News: Dog saves owner from house fire in Shepherd's Bush

A dog saved its owners from a fire after the smoke alarm failed. ‘Smokey’ the dog, as nicknamed by the firemen who rescued the family, woke the rest of the house when smoke began to fill the ground floor property, located on Stanlake Road in Shepherd’s Bush.

Mr Hughes, one of the tenants of the flat, said of the dog – who is nicknamed Moo – “I woke up to Moo barking like crazy so opened the door and was hit with a wall of smoke. She was sleeping in Rob’s room so he’d woken up about 30 seconds before and thought he could put the fire out by himself but quickly realised he couldn’t because the flames were getting pretty big so ran upstairs to let the other people know.

“She normally sleeps in the living room so she probably would have woken us up earlier but who knows if we would have got out in time.

“Moo is such a great dog anyway but she’s been getting lots of treats since the fire. It was raining and cold when we were standing outside the flat after being rescued so we put a cardigan on her and she managed to find some cake in a hedge so she was alright. We’re very grateful to Moo.”

Mr Hughes said the fire was caused by an electrical fault but everything has melted so it is difficult to establish where it started.

The firemen on duty that morning issued a warning to people about checking their smoke alarms regularly, as the one in the flat in question had run out of batteries.