Dec. 19--Buddy, a chocolate Labrador retriever, is being credited with saving his owner from a fire Thursday night inside their south Sacramento home.
Sacramento firefighters say the man is "lucky to be alive" after his dog woke him from a deep sleep with a determined nudge, alerting him to the blaze.
The homeowner was particularly lucky because his smoke alarms were not in working order, said Firefighter Roberto Padilla, spokesman of the Sacramento Fire Department. So Buddy was his only fire-alarm system.
After being treated at the scene, the man later checked himself into a hospital for possible smoke inhalation.
Thursday night's incident is second house fire in the past week in which firefighters have discovered no working smoke alarms. Last week's house fire claimed the lives of two people.
Firefighters are distributing smoke alarms to residents throughout the city.
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