A Cowies Hill family owes their live to their dog who alerted them to a fire in their home.
The family lost all their belongings when their home was engulfed in flames in the early hours of last Tuesday morning.
Adheer Hansraj, his wife Sameera Safla and 18-month-old baby Areehan were asleep when an electrical fault sparked a fire that destroyed their home.
Hansraj said he was awoken by the sound of something breaking and their dog, Paisley, barking.
“I had gone back to sleep not long before after making my baby’s milk. When I heard Paisley bark I went to see what was wrong. As I walked out the room I felt pieces of glass on the floor. I tried to push it to the side because I was afraid the baby would step on it when he woke up.
“I realised the down-lighting bulb had popped out of the ceiling and bust. I could feel the heat and when I looked up I could see red and sparks in the ceiling. From the passage I could see the fire was already in the other part of the house. I screamed to my wife to grab the baby and run out the house. We managed to open the sliding door from the room and get out,” said Hansraj.
He said the fire spread rapidly through the roof.
“We couldn’t salvage anything. All we were left with was what we were wearing and a set of clothing that was on the washing line outside. We are just grateful to be alive. Friends and family have been helping us. We are now staying at a bed and breakfast,” he said.
He said they had been living in that house since 2019 and had seven dogs.
“Paisley, who is a French bulldog, was the first baby of the house and used to sleep on the bed with us until our son was born. He still sits on the sofa in the lounge. Paisley was the only dog inside the house with us. The others were outside. Our heroes were our neighbours who helped us and helped move the dogs.
“It was Paisley’s barking that made me wake up to see what broke,” he said.
Safla said it took them years and a lot of hard work to get to where they were and in a matter of minutes the fire destroyed everything.
“I woke up in shock. Paisley is always in the house and thankfully she was in the house. All our memories, sentimental possessions are all gone. My baby had toys which he hadn’t played with yet, they were still in boxes,” she said.
Safla said after having difficulty falling pregnant she underwent fertility treatment and conceived twins and lost them five months into her pregnancy because she had septicemia. She went for the treatment again and had Areehan.
“He is a very special little boy that’s our miracle baby. I’m so glad he survived the fire,” said Safla.
She said they were thankful that the fire didn’t spread to the rest of the property where there are cottages with families living in them.
