Dog lies on disabled owner, protects her from flames while trapped in house fire

ROSEVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) - A brave dog from California is being hailed as a hero for staying with her disabled owner during a house fire and protecting her from the intense flames.

David Hoffman reunited with his 8-year-old dog, Maya, on Monday outside the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Roseville. The dog is still recovering from burns she suffered while protecting Hoffman’s wife from the flames of a house fire.

“I tried to get my wife out of the fire, and I couldn’t. Thank God, they were trained and able to get her out because another minute longer, she probably wouldn’t have made it,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman’s wife is recovering in the burn unit after firefighters rescued her and Maya from a fire at their Citrus Heights home last month. Both were trapped in a burning bedroom.

“It was a very fast-paced fire, and with reported rescue, we had to move very quickly,” said Jason Vestal with Sacramento Metro Fire.

Maya is being credited with saving her owner from the flames. The dog suffered burns to her body as well as burns to her tongue and mouth, which veterinarian Nicole McArthur says likely came from licking her owner as the flames closed in.

“They found the dog passed out on top of my wife, which she took a lot of the burns away from – my wife didn’t get burned on the chest or anything like that because the dog was laying on top of her. It saved her life,” Hoffman said.

After pulling Maya and her owner from their burning home, firefighters administered oxygen to the dog in a move that McArthur says likely saved her life.

The vet is not charging Hoffman a dime for caring for Maya because of her actions to protect her owner.

“We wanted to help. It’s a tremendous story. She’s a hero. This family lost everything, and we didn’t want to add one more thing to their list of worries,” McArthur said.