JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman is praising her service dogs for alerting her of a house fire in their Northside neighborhood Sunday morning.
Unusual behavior ended up being the key signal.
Cat King said she loves her service dogs named Rocky, Einstein and Mahogany.
They have been with her altogether for three years.
King said they bark a lot, but what they did early Sunday morning made her concerned.
While King was sleeping around 3 a.m., the trio barked nonstop for more than five minutes, which King said was out of character.
“I would not wake up and they just kept on pawing at me like, ‘wake up, wake up,” King said. “I was like ‘go to sleep, go to sleep.’
But they were persistent. That is when King knew something was not right.
“They started going toward the door,” King said. “When I open the door, they just rushed and took off.”
Instead of running their usual route to the left of the house, King said they ran to the right. They all saw the house across the street from them on Menlo Avenue in flames.
King ran back inside to call 911.
“It could’ve hit both sides of the houses,” King said of the fire. “I didn’t even think about that. All I was thinking was at the house is on fire.”
Thankfully, no one was home at the time.
“That whole house could’ve been gone,” King said.
But Rocky, Einstein and Mahogany saw something, and in their own way, said something.
“I’m so proud of them,” King said. “They did a good job. They let me know how good fur babies are and how good they can take care of people.”
The cause of the fire is unknown.