Dog alerts owners to house fire in East Vancouver, 2 men escape unharmed

An East Vancouver man and his nephew escaped a fast-moving house fire early Sunday morning after their dog woke them up and alerted them to the fire.

"Thanks to the dog, they got out of the house," said Battalion Chief Jim Booth with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, who was on scene at the fire on Euclid Avenue near Aberdeen Street.

"It heard the noise and like all good pets do, they make sure their owners get out."

Lawrence Perry lives in the house and said he was asleep when the fire started around 2:45 a.m. PT.

"I was scared, I didn't know what was going on," said Perry, who is visually impaired.

"My uncle started pounding on the door and I thought he was kidding—he wasn't kidding, there was a fire."

Perry was able to escape unharmed with the help of his uncle and their dog as fire crews arrived on scene to tackle the blaze.

House under renovation

The fire completely engulfed the garage and deck of the two-storey house, which was being renovated at the time.

Booth said his crews immediately started attacking the blaze in the garage, where some old housing material was being stored.

"When they arrived on scene, the back of the house was fully involved," said Booth. 

"Upstairs was under renovation so going in was a little tricky," but they did a quick search of the upstairs and said it was fairly open."

Firefighters were able to get the fire under control around 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

The flames only destroyed the garage and deck and didn't make it into the main part of the building. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.