St. James home destroyed by fire; owner alive because of dog

WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg woman is lucky to be alive after a fire ripped through her St. James home early Wednesday morning.

It happened around 2:30 a.m. at a 1.5 storey house at 448 Albany St.

Linda Muth was asleep when her 130-pound Great Dane, Patches, ran into the bedroom to wake her up.

Muth said the house was filled with smoke; she couldn’t see anything and could barely breathe.

“If it wasn’t for Patches, I wouldn’t be alive. I would be dead,” she said.

Muth reached over to call 911, but as she dialled the line went dead.

“I reached for my cellphone next to my bed and somehow was able to dial for help,” she said.

Firefighters arrived on scene, pulled her from the back window and she was taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.

Muth’s husband, Hans, was in Brandon when the fire broke out.

“It’s not a good feeling, it terrifies you,” he said.

The dog and two cats were retrieved, but the family is still missing one cat.

The couple has family in Winnipeg who they are staying with until further notice. Things can be replaced, they said; at least they have each other.

“Do you live in yesterday or do you live in tomorrow? Tomorrow is in front of me,” Hans Muth said.