'Loving' Chihuahua Dies Saving Colo. Family from House Fire: She 'Let Us Know' There Was Danger

One of the family members noted that without their dog Cuddles there to alert them to the fire, "Who knows what would have happened to us"

A tiny pet with a big heart is being hailed a hero after sacrificing her life to save her family from a fire.

On Aug. 14, West Metro Fire Rescue in Colorado shared on social media that its fire crews responded to a fire at a home a few miles south of Denver in the early morning. The fire department noted that the family inside the burning home had been sleeping when the fire began and that their pet had alerted them to the emergency.

“Their dog woke them up,” West Metro Fire Rescue shared on Instagram. “They looked outside and saw a fire on their back porch.”

“They were able to get out however the dog is still missing,” the agency added.

The pet, named Cuddles, was missing for several days before firefighters found the dog dead inside the home.

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West Metro Fire Rescue also shared a video of firefighters extinguishing the blaze with large hoses and noted that the fire "made its way into the house" and caused "extensive damage" to the first and second floors.

A resident of the house, Suzanne Elkins, told KUSA that she and her husband, Victor Elkins, had been "sound asleep" when the fire started and that their grandson's 7-year-old dog, Cuddles, worked hard to wake them up.

"Cuddles hopped on Victor's chest and barked in his face to wake him up to let us know there was a danger," Suzanne recalled to the outlet.

She said the black Chihuahua disappeared as the flames reached the second floor. Because of Cuddle's wake-up call, Suzanne, her husband, and her grandson safely escape the home.

"Victor went back in and searched for her with all the smoke and flames, and that's how he burned his foot by running out, and we did not know what happened to Cuddles then," she said, adding that firefighters eventually found the dog deceased underneath a bed.

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Suzanne noted to the outlet that the pup likely died of smoke inhalation and said the loss was "hard on all of us" — especially her 13-year-old grandson Jaxson Coley, to whom the dog belonged.

The teen told KUSA that he was "still in shock" at the loss of his pet and remembered Cuddles as a dog who was "very playful and loving." He shared that her love for giving hugs inspired her moniker: "She just wanted to cuddle everybody."

Suzanne added that without Cuddles, "who knows what would have happened to us," and encouraged people to "love on your dogs."

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Firefighters told KUSA that the fire started on the home's back porch. They noted on social media that the fire even burned "a hole in the floor of the family room" and caused some "heat exposure to a neighboring home," melting off a "portion of the vinyl siding."

West Metro Fire Rescue said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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