A cat who woke her owner helped four people escape with their lives from a fire that destroyed a Chattanooga home.
Bruce Garner, Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman, said the alarm at 5022 Browntown Road came in shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday.
The house was engulfed when firefighters arrived and even though four companies battled the blaze, the house was a total loss, Garner said in a news release.
Three men and a woman lived in the rental home. The woman told investigators everyone was sleeping when her cat began to meow and lick her face, waking her up to find the house on fire.
All four got out, but one man went back in to search unsuccessfully for the cat and had to be treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation. Chief Don Bowman said the cat may have run out of the house and into nearby woods.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. The American Red Cross is assisting the victims, Garner said.
Firefighters finish working the scene of a blaze at 5022 Browntown Road.