Labrador Saves South Sacramento Man From Fire

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13/AP) - Authorities are crediting a chocolate Labrador with saving the life of a Sacramento man after it alerted him to a fire inside a home that appeared not to have a smoke detector.

Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Roberto Padilla says the man told firefighters he was sleeping when his dog Buddy nudged him and woke him up Thursday night. The man saw a fire burning in a bedroom in the rear of the house.

The man later went to the hospital to be treated for possible smoke inhalation.

Padilla says the man did not recall hearing a smoke alarm, and firefighters found no evidence of a working smoke detector in the house. He says the home suffered significant damage.

The incident is reportedly the second time in the past week where fire crews responded to a burning south Sacramento home where there were no working smoke alarms.

"We don't want to rely on a Buddy type of story to save somebody's life," said Padilla. "Buddy's a good story, but the smoke detector is really what is going to make a difference more often than not."

But fire investigators say this could have been a story of disaster, like the one that happened on Jacks Land and 32nd Avenue. There were no smoke detectors in that home and the two people inside later died at the hospital.

The company First Alert donated 100 smoke detectors to the Sacramento Fire Department, which are available for free on a first-come-first-served basis.

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