Cat Saves 8 People From House Fire (Kitty Ping!)

UPI ^ | Jan. 24, 2008 | UPI

[DogByte6RER]

Cat saves 8 people from house fire

Published: Jan. 24, 2008 at 10:11 AM

ALLENDALE, Mich., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A cat named Oreo saved the lives of eight Allendale, Mich., people when their home caught fire Wednesday, officials said.

The heroic kitty began to cry when flames started in the family's garage about 5 a.m., WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, Mich., reported Thursday.

Officials said smoke detectors in the home did not sound at the time of the fire, but luckily for the family, Oreo did. The cat's cries from the garage reportedly woke the family of eight and sent them rushing out of the house.

Fire damaged the garage and one bedroom, officials said.

[DogByte6RER]

Hero cat, or maybe the feline is a firebug? : )

[DogByte6RER]

ping

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Animals are amazing........

[ladyjane]

Why did these people make their cat sleep in the garage?

[labette]

[teenyelliott]

Of course he was meowing, he was IN THE GARAGE!!!!!!!

I hope he gets to stay in the house from now on.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

“I hope he gets to stay in the house from now on.”

I hope they name a holiday after him.

[BlueDragon]

Hero cat, or maybe the feline is a firebug? : )

You may be on to something there. Here's a pic of Oreo and a buddy, back when he in junior high

[BufordP]

Wake up! My cat food’s on fire!

[Peace Is Coming]

Nice Kitty

[GloriaJane]

I can’t find anywhere in the story where it says if the cat made it out alive or not. I sure hope he did.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Spktyr]

Kitty apparently made it out okay:

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080123/NEWS01/301230026

Cat credited with saving Allendale family from house fire

GRAND RAPIDS — A cat’s caterwauling during a pre-dawn house fire may have saved the lives of five family members, a firefighter said.

There were no injuries, but today’s fire destroyed the garage, a Jeep parked in the garage and a second-floor bedroom at Warren and Diane Busscher’s home in Allendale, about 15 miles west of Grand Rapids, said Lt. Michael Keefe of the Allendale Fire Department.

ADVERTISEMENT

Keefe said the couple and their three children were sleeping when Diane Busscher awoke to hear the family’s black cat howling and screeching from the garage, where it spends its nights. She went to investigate her pet’s cries.

When the woman opened the door to the garage, smoke started pouring inside, so she grabbed the cat and ran back through the house, waking up everyone and telling them to go outside. The home had working smoke detectors that apparently were not set off until the family was outdoors, Keefe said.

“Their statement to me is that the smoke detectors did not go off until they were outside,” he said.

The fire department, which was dispatched to the scene shortly before 5 a.m., was trying to determine the cause of the fire. It originated in the garage but apparently was not started by the cat, Keefe said.

Telephone calls to the Busschers’ house were met with busy signals.

[GloriaJane]

Thank You! It's much better knowing that the little hero made it too.

Here's a picture of our cat Perseval. I it took with my cell phone in the dark. LOL!

[Species8472]

[Biggirl]

Goes to show that cats can be heros as well as dogs. :) =^..^=

[Biggirl]

Thank-you for letting me know that the cat made it out alive. :) =^..^=

[Biggirl]

Cat with glowing eyes. =^..^= :)

[windcliff]

ping

[Saundra Duffy]

My kitty Sunday was all in a dither when a log rolled out of the fireplace and started a small fire when we were upstairs. She warned us by meowing and meowing loudly and leading us to the site, very much out of character for such a sweet quiet timid kitty. I just love cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!