A cat named Prince is being credited with saving the lives of sleeping occupants of a home that caught fire in Maryland, giving its life to save its owners.
The fire happened Sunday on Westside Drive in Gaithersburg, according to a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS). The cat kept pawing at the sleeping occupants around 4 a.m., The Washington Post reported.
After noticing that something was burning, one male and two females reportedly were unable to get out after being met with heavy smoke. They retreated into a second-floor master bedroom, where they called a basement resident and 911 for help.
The basement resident grabbed a painter's ladder from outside and placed it by the bedroom window so the three stuck inside could escape.
"The smoke (got) thicker and thicker, and before I knew, my house was on fire," the cat's owner, who did not want to be identified, told DC News Now. "If it weren’t for Prince waking me up, we would all be dead. He truly saved our lives, and I believe he is our angel."
The cat, who had made it outside, "jumped from the owner’s arms & ran back into the building," MCFRS's Pete Piringer said on X, adding the cat "was likely overcome by smoke and was found by firefighters on the second floor" deceased. Piringer referred to Prince as "Hero Cat" in an earlier post, noting the owners "are giving full credit" to the feline for saving them.
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Fire officials say the home's smoke alarms were removed or disabled at the time due to painting.
The fire broke out on the three-story townhome's first floor, Piringer told the Post, saying it is believed to have started as a result of a problem with a freezer motor before it spread through the kitchen.
The family of four was displaced but not injured.
