A single dad has revealed how the family's dog may have saved their lives after alerting him to a fire in his home.
Darren McBride from Co Antrim, put laundry into his tumble drier and headed upstairs to get ready to go out with his eldest son, while his youngest stayed at home.
But shortly before they were due to leave, their dog Hollie, a Labrador Lurcher mix started barking frantically and when Darren went to find out what was upsetting her, he discovered flames and smoke billowing from the drier.
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Darren, from Carrickfergus, said: "It was a real shock. Hollie was going mad, barking and crying. She's normally a very calm and quiet dog, so I knew something was wrong but at that stage I hadn't a clue we had a house fire, I couldn't smell any smoke and the fire alarm wasn't sounding.
"I had been just about to head out the door to go to Lidl with my eldest son Lloyd, who is 19. My youngest son Jayden, who's 16, was still in bed. If we'd left a few minutes earlier I dread to think what would have happened because Jayden would have been upstairs alone in the house and the fire would only have spread.
"Jayden was out for the count, he didn't hear Hollie barking or me shouting to him to get up and get out of the house. I literally had to drag him out of bed and wake him up from a deep sleep and get him outside.
"He had been on his XBox late into the night and was catching up on sleep and he was totally confused when I shook him and woke him up and shouted at him to get out of the house."
Darren, who rents from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, was left homeless since the fire while work is carried out to gut the smokes and water damaged areas, repair and redecorate.
He said: "We've had nowhere to live at the moment but we were lucky to have been able to stay with friends and our hero Hollie is also staying with another friend until we can get back in. We are looking forward to getting back together at the house.
"Hollie saved Jayden's life, she maybe saved everyone's life. We've had Hollie since she was a tiny pup and she is just another member of the family. She is a great dog and loves coming on holidays with us. She knows our routines inside out and she definitely stepped up to the plate that day.
"Unlike the rest of us, she knew there was a problem in the kitchen when this fire broke out and she understood enough to alert us.
"We think it must have been an electrical fault and the only smoke alarm in the house was in the front hall so it was silent. I assumed another box nearer the kitchen was a smoke alarm but it turns out it wasn't. So we've been very lucky to get out unhurt.
"I went to see what Hollie was making all the noise about and realised we were in danger of the house going up in flames, and we are a mid terrace so other people were at risk too.
"I grabbed Hollie and dragged her into another room and closed the door on the fire. She didn't want to move but I needed to get her to safety and then I grabbed my phone and called 999 for help as I ran upstairs to get Jayden out of bed.
"The fire service were with us very quickly and got the fire under control and put it out. They said it started in the tumble drier and that we'd been lucky it hadn't happened while we were asleep. I just keep thinking that Jayden would have been fast asleep in his room and alone in the house if we had walked out that door.
"The only thing that stopped me and Lloyd leaving was Hollie causing all the noise. She's our hero and we can't wait to get her back home with us again."
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