A Washington, Illinois family has a dog to thank for saving their lives, and it's not even their dog.

Lisa Fenwick is the human that belongs to the adorable 6-year-old pitty named Bella.  Whenever Fenwick goes out of town she leaves Bella with her friends the Ochs-Corpuz family.  Fenwick originally planned to drop Bella off last Friday morning before they left for Indianapolis.  At the last minute, she decided to drop Bella off Thursday night, which may have saved the lives of the Ochs-Corpuz family.  Fenwick tells Heart of Illinois ABC that late Thursday night Bella barked to alert the family that their home was on fire,

Within minutes the fire went from the shed to the garage, on top of the garage to the upstairs of the house.

Get our free mobile app

The good news is, that everyone made it out of the home safely.  The bad news is, that the family lost everything.  Between smoke damage and water damage, this is a complete loss for the family.  Fenwick, who has been friends with the Ochs-Corpuz family for at least 20 years, is doing everything she can to help them basically start their lives over.  She started the Ochs-Corpuz Family Fund at the Washington Community Bank where you can make donations to help the family get the items they need to get back on their feet.

Heart of Illinois ABC reports that the cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Washington Fire Department.

It is becoming oddly common to have dogs alert people to house fires.  We covered a story out of Ohio in April of 2020 where a dog barked to wake a homeowner while his house burned.  Check out that full story by clicking here.

Dogs on Kayaks in Michigan

Michigan dogs in kayaks

10 West Michigan Dogs You Should Be Following On Instagram

There are so many good boys and girls in West Michigan that will leave you wagging your tail

More From WBCKFM