[DiamondSmiles]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/o...Fire/206061021

By Pei-Sze Chang, NBCNewYork.com

A pit bull saved a woman from a fire in her Long Island, New York, home on Friday, barking to alert her as the flames began to spread from the front to the back of the house.

Jackie Bonasera said she was drying her hair in an upstairs bathroom of the home on Gabriele Drive in East Norwich when she heard the dog barking. She ran downstairs and saw the flames on the side of her garage.

She was able to escape the house.

"I ran out of the house and my neighbors came running over, and then I thought about the dog – I'm like, 'He saved my life, I have to save his,'" Bonasera recounted.

"So I just put my robe over my face and I ran back in and I grabbed the dog and then I stood out here and I watched my house burn," she said.

Bonasera believes she would have been trapped upstairs if the dog, named Cain, hadn't alerted her to the fire.

Bonasera's daughter, Alexus Stallworth, said Cain is "the town hero."

"He's a pit bull, too," said Stallworth. "They have such bad reps, but he's such a good boy."

Stallworth was outside the house when the fire broke out and captured the blaze on her cell phone camera.

More than 70 firefighters were needed to stop the fire. Although the cause of the blaze has not been determined and the arson squad is investigating, police don't believe it's suspicious.

The homeowner is a contractor who is working on several homes that were damaged by Sandy, and he said he now hopes he can get his own home fixed before winter.


The dog is so cute. I don't know how to clip a picture from a video.

[kellyhound]

one of many benefits having a dog

[Insideoutbodies]

i could never leave my animals to perish i will go to hell and back for my animal friends.

[Pit Bull]

Much as I love pit bulls, this is a dog thing.Breed is just as irrelevant here as it is in the dog attack threads.

[Darkest Angel]

Originally Posted by Pit Bull ↗

Much as I love pit bulls, this is a dog thing.Breed is just as irrelevant here as it is in the dog attack threads.

But a good pit bull story shows that there are good pits as well. So many negative stories, usually all we hear.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Pit Bull ↗

Much as I love pit bulls, this is a dog thing.Breed is just as irrelevant here as it is in the dog attack threads.

It is, but, as darkest angel said, it's great to hear a good story after all the bad attention they get.

Judge Joe Brown thinks they are the worst and supposedly, according to him, it's a statistic in the US.

[Megamel29]

She flipping left without the dog in the first place? Well, at least she went back for him.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Megamel29 ↗

She flipping left without the dog in the first place? Well, at least she went back for him.

I think you get disoriented quickly in a fire.

Trying to breathe and get your bearings in the dark with flames and heat all around you.

My youngest brother was found standing at the bathroom sink with his dog outside the bathroom door with her hands over her face. (I know they're paws, but, I call them hands anyway.)

They couldn't get a breathing tube into my brother because of so much soot. Neighbors told me they heard the dog barking and crying getting more faint until she died, too

[Megamel29]

Originally Posted by diamondsmiles ↗

I think you get disoriented quickly in a fire.

Trying to breathe and get your bearings in the dark with flames and heat all around you.

My youngest brother was found standing at the bathroom sink with his dog outside the bathroom door with her hands over her face. (I know they're paws, but, I call them hands anyway.)

They couldn't get a breathing tube into my brother because of so much soot. Neighbors told me they heard the dog barking and crying getting more faint until she died, too

That's sad. So sorry for your loss.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Megamel29 ↗

That's sad. So sorry for your loss.

Thank you, Meg :)