Officials: Woman Escapes from House Fire after Dog Woke Her

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Fire officials in southeastern South Dakota say a dog saved a woman from a house fire by waking her up.

The Vermillion Rural Fire Department says the woman told officials that her dog woke her up twice Saturday morning in her bedroom on the second floor of the Vermillion home. She said she then decided to take her dog outside, but opened the bedroom door and saw the fire.

The department says she couldn't get out the door, so she jumped out a window with her dog, following directions from a 911 dispatcher.

Fire Chief Richard Draper tells the Sioux City Journal that the woman was not hurt. The fire department says the blaze took about an hour to extinguish and was caused by an electrical short in the wall.

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