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Hero dog saves girl, 1, from house fire by staying in burning house and alerting firefighters to his location after boy in apartment below burning building while playing with lighter
- One-year-old Chantal was trapped in her playpen on the second floor.
- Blue the rescue dog hero ran back to the burning building to show the firefighters.
- Janet Kelly, the boy’s mother claimed the fire started when the boy set the mattress on fire
A heroic bloodhound saved a girl from a burning house in Detroit after the girl in the apartment below set the building on fire while they played with a lighter.
One-year-old baby named Chantal was trapped in her playpen when flames and thick black smoke devastated the multi-family unit, located in Beniteau Street on Detroit’s East Side, February 21.
Blue, the family’s rescue pitbull/Labrador mix, ran to alert firefighters and then ran back into the burning building to bring firefighters to her location and rescue the baby.
Janet Kelly, the girl’s mother, described her pit bull/Labrador mix as her real-life Lassie. “He is very protective of all of us,” said the mother of four.
She claimed the fire started in the downstairs unit after one of the downstairs tenant’s children was playing with a lighter and accidentally set the mattress on fire.
By the time the tenants ran to tell the families in the unit to flee, the house had already burned to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but Kelly had lost everything.
Blue is pictured with baby Chantal after saving her from a raging house fire on February 21.
The fire devastated the home located on Beniteau Street in Detroit’s Eastside neighborhood.
The boy’s mother claimed that the boy who lives on the first floor started the fire with a lighter.
Kelly talked about her relative Blue, whom she adopted two years ago, from an animal shelter. She had been living on the streets.
“Blue ran back into the house because she knew Chantal, my youngest daughter, she was in her playpen,” Kelly told Fox 2.
“Firefighters had to give chase and once they got there, they realized what was going on.”
Kelly said her three other children were with her fiancé and were not home during the fire.
Unable to stay at a shelter because of her animals, she was forced to live in her van with her four children ages 9, 7, 4, and 1.
As a last resort, he created a GoFundMe.
“Unfortunately, we have to turn to Gofund because we have lost everything,” he wrote.
Baby Chantal with her mother, Janet Kelly, and family hero, Blue, a pitbull Labrador mix
The family was photographed together at the Red Roof Inn in Roseville on February 27.
‘On Tuesday afternoon at 4:15 p.m., February 21, 2023, our entire lives were turned upside down. The house was set on fire by the tenants below and the fire made its way to our unit.
‘My daughters lost everything from clothes to toys to food.
‘We are currently staying in our vehicle until we can find new housing… I contacted the owner (no help).
I have reached out to churches and organizations, but no help yet… so here I am.’
Many donations poured in, including from a woman named Kristen Bell who donated $2,500, but it’s unclear if this is the actress and the same Kristen Bell who appears in the Disney movie, Frozen.
As of Thursday, the fundraiser has raised a total of $97,694 and Kelly expressed her heartfelt gratitude, telling her supporters “no more donations are needed.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for all the help and everything,” he said. ‘This money will be applied to a new home for us.’