Dog saves owner during house fire

Published 1:49 pm Monday, January 8, 2018

By Eric Williams

The Orange Leader

A dog name Mickey is being praised as a hero after he saved the life of his owner along with his own after their Mauriceville home caught fire over the weekend. “He was sound asleep and received the worse call ever that his sister in laws home was on fire,” Phillip Labarbera said.

His first instinct was to get there to make sure she was ok and well.

“The home can be replaced so rebuilding wouldn’t be a problem but life is something that can’t,” Labarbera said. “Although the home has so many irreplaceable memories it hurts when something like this hits hard to home”.

According to Orange County ESD4 Fire Captain J. Partain, they received a call around 3 a.m. to the Burton residence for a structure fire in the 8500 block of Hiler Road in Mauriceville early Saturday morning. 

Upon arrival fire fighters found a two-story house fully involved.

The homeowner and dog self-rescued themselves out of the house and ran to a neighbor’s house to call 911.

The home is a total lost and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but according to the homeowner she had a space heater plugged in the next room. 

The owner was thankfully asleep on the first floor of the residence so she was able to escape out of a first floor window.

“His sister in law has lived in the home for almost 20 years and she plans on rebuilding the home,” Labarbera said. “This is very emotional for my sister in law because she is always the kind of person who would do and give to anyone in the time of need.”

Little Cypress, Deweyville, Bridge City, Buna, Vidor, and Orange Fire Departments along with Acadian Ambulance Service assisted Orange County ESD4.

One fire fighter was transported to a Beaumont hospital for an ankle injury.

Two cats, also inside the home, did not survive the fire.