Dogs who alerted residents to house fire die in blaze

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. – Dogs are being credited with saving a family from a house fire in the New Hope area of Josephine County.

Rural Metro Fire said just after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a family living on Verna Lane woke up to their dogs making noise and whimpering. When they got out of bed, the occupants saw smoke and flames rapidly spreading around the house.

The family was able to get out of the house without any injuries. The dogs, however, did not survive.

Once firefighters arrived at the scene, they were able to knock down the flames quickly.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.