Pit Bull Lauded Hero, For Saves Deaf Boy From Fiery Home Blaze

A pit bull is hailed a hero for saving his deaf owner’s life Wednesday afternoon. The 2-year-old dog, Ace, alerted his 13-year-old owner, Nick Lamb, to a fire that broke out in their Indianapolis house.

At 1:11 pm, firefighters were called to the house on 6400 block of Perry Pines Court, as reported by Indy Star. Perry Pines Court officials say Lamb was asleep at the time of the fire, but Ace licked his face in an effort to wake him up.

By the time firefighters arrived, flames were shooting high out of the garage. Indianapolis Fire Department Capt. Rita Reith says:

“He was thankful that Ace entered his room and licked his face until he woke up. The boy quickly covered his nose and mouth with his T-shirt and exited the rear of the house.”

With his pit bull hero by his side, Nick exited the home’s back door without his shoes before calling his mother and dialing 911.

Nick says:

“I couldn’t hear anything because I had my cochlear implants off…. My dog Ace smelled it. I just wanted to get out.”

The young boy and Ace made it safely out of the home. No one else was home when the fire began because Nick’s mother, Lindsay Bernard, was working. She rushed home after getting her son’s call. Bernard says:

“I went into a little bit of a panic. When I got here… the streets were covered. It was mainly just panic and chaos.”

Nick’s mother adds that if it weren’t for Ace, her son might not be alive now. She tells WTHR.com:

“It’s amazing, because if he wouldn’t have been there, he probably wouldn’t have even woke up.”

Capt. Reith tells the news source that the family cat, Pixie, was found by another firefighter inside the house and seems okay other than inhaling a little smoke and needing an overnight stay at the vet. Reith adds:

“(Lamb) told firefighters that this was the first summer he was old enough to stay home alone and was excited to have reached that milestone. He had just returned from summer camp on Sunday.”

An investigation into the cause of the fire is under investigation, but the family thinks it was an electrical problem that came from their garage. $175,000 in damage was done from the blaze.

Inquisitr has written on other hero dog stories, such as a dog that alerted parents to abuse their toddler was suffering at the hands of a babysitter.

The loyal pit bull in this story is lauded a hero for keeping his owner well and alive in the face of tragedy.

[Photo Credit: Indianapolis Fire Dept. via MSN]