Pet dogs have emerged as both heroes and villains in South Australia overnight, with one causing a fire which left a man with burns hours after another woke a family whose home was burning.
Just after 2:00am, the occupants of a Magill townhouse in Adelaide's east were woken by the barking of their dog and found part of the property in flames.
Police said the family "fled the fire" with the dog and escaped without injury, but the blaze quickly spread.
The two-storey home on Mann Court was destroyed by the fire, which has been deemed non-suspicious.
Fire crews brought the blaze under control before it could spread to neighbouring properties.
"From what I understand, one of the residents left their car battery on charge, which looks like it's caused the fire," Senior Constable Mick Abbott said.
"Luckily they had their dog that woke them and they managed to escape without injury."
A short time later, another fire was sparked in an outhouse at Murray Bridge, south-east of Adelaide.
The Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) said crews attended the property on Old Swanport Road about 4:00am.
It is suspected that a dog — which was found dead inside the property — knocked over a candle, sparking the blaze.
Firefighters took about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire but the outhouse was completely destroyed.
A man was later taken to hospital with minor burns.
