Cat saves family from fire in home with no working smoke detectors

A cat reportedly saved its family when their house caught on fire in Michigan on Thursday morning.

According to Grand Rapids firefighters, the feline hero alerted the family when the fire broke out, allowing them to escape safely, Fox17 reports.

Emergency responders said they found smoke billowing from the first and second floors. The broadcast station says investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen.

Per reports, the family’s home fire detectors weren’t working at the time.

Firefighters had the fire under control within approximately 30 minutes after receiving the initial 911 call at 6:11 a.m., according to ABC13.

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Grand Rapids fire Lt. William Smith said it’s an “absolute miracle” that the family got out alive, but that they’re still looking for two of their beloved family pets.

Frank Doane, the homeowner, told ABC13 that he was on his way to work when the fire broke out. His wife, two sons and their nine pets were in the home at the time.

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All of the family’s pets, which included seven cats, one dog and a rat, were found, except for two of the cats. One of the missing felines — the reported hero — apparently jumped on one of the boys to warn him of the fire, and they were able to escape safely.

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Doane has owned their family home for 15 years but failed to install new smoke detectors he’d recently purchased.

This isn’t the first incredible cat rescue of its kind this year.

Just last month, an abandoned cat rescued her adoptive owner after a fire broke out in her New York apartment.

Around 2 a.m. on a late October morning, Danielle Schafer was jolted awake by her cat, Kitty, who was jumping on top of her to alert her of a fire spreading through her apartment.

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“I thought someone was trying to break in,” she told USA Today.

She immediately got up and found her kitchen full of flames.

“It was pitch-black smoke, and I tried opening the bedroom windows,” Schafer said. “I was yelling, ‘Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!’”

Schafer managed to escape to safety through her patio doors, but sadly Kitty was not found.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca