‘Nightmare that I want to wake up from’: Kitchener family escapes burning home thanks to their dog

A Kitchener family’s home and three vehicles have been destroyed by fire, but CTV’s Hannah Schmidt learns their dog may have saved their lives.

A dog named Duke is being hailed a hero for saving his owner from a fire that destroyed their home and three vehicles in Kitchener, Ont.

Nancy Ellis was asleep inside her home on Ahrens Street West in the early morning hours of May 31.

It was her German shepherd who first alerted her to the danger she was in.

“I woke up to Duke waking me up, pulling my hair, barking in my face and shaking uncontrollably,” Ellis recalled. “He knew something was wrong.”

At first, she thought someone was knocking at the door. She checked but determined nobody was there. When Ellis returned to her bedroom, she looked out the window and noticed her front porch was ablaze.

“I just yelled for my husband. I said, ‘The porch is on fire!’” she remembered. “I grabbed my cellphone and then we went out and called 911. I didn’t realize how big of a fire it was. So, it was just minutes that the whole porch was engulfed.”

Crews with Kitchener Fire were called to Ahrens Street West at approximately 1:50 a.m.

Five people, including Ellis, were inside at the time.

Silas Larin, her 11-year-old nephew, said he was drifting off to sleep when he was alerted to the danger. He soon discovered their way out had been cut off.

“(Our) roommate Terry, he started banging on the door and saying, ‘Fire!’” Larin recalled. “I woke up my mom and she tried going downstairs to open the door, but there was just too much smoke and fire. So, we went back up and closed the door, and I opened the window and broke the screen and we escaped out onto the roof.”

Larin made it safely to the ground with the help of a police officer.

“It was just survival instincts trying to get out,” he said. “After I got out the window, I just started crying.”

While everyone escaped safely — including four dogs and two cats — the family lost nearly everything inside the home.

“Our memories and antiques. My husband’s grandfather’s things and belongings that he was saving, it’s all gone,” Ellis said.

The fire is believed to have caused an estimated $400,000 in damage. Three vehicles parked outside were also destroyed.

“(We’re) displaced and staying at a hotel,” Ellis explained. “We don’t know what we’re doing, just taking it one day at a time, I guess. But we’ll have to rent out a house somewhere.”

The family is currently getting help from the Red Cross, donations from the community and an online fundraiser.

Looking back, Ellis believes Duke’s actions made all the difference.

“If it wasn’t for him waking me up, we would not be here today,” she insisted. “This is a nightmare that I want to wake up from. Never in my wildest dreams that I thought this would ever happen.”

Officials believe the fire started on the covered porch.

They continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.