A dog’s loud barking awakened eight members of a Beltsville family just in time for them to escape their burning home, a Prince George’s County fire department spokesman said.
Monster, a 6-year-old Doberman pinscher, was in the backyard of the two-story house at 4600 Naples Ave. when he started barking and pounced on a sliding glass door to wake up the family around 6 a.m. Tuesday, the spokesman said. The fire burned through the roof and caused $250,000 damage to the single-family home, which did not have sprinklers.
Inside were three adults and five children, authorities said. Typically, there are nine children in the house.
One firefighter suffered a minor burn while fighting the blaze, which took firefighters 20 minutes to put out, the spokesman said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
– Freeman Klopott
