An East Germantown family is crediting their dog with helping them and their neighbors escape a Philadelphia rowhome fire overnight.
Flames broke out around midnight along the 800 block of East Stafford Street, near Chew Avenue, Philadelphia firefighters said.
As they stood outside early on Feb. 28, 2025, the Rutherford family credited their dog Scarlett Agatha for alerting them to the smoky blaze.
“My son came upstairs, woke me up because the dog was barking nonstop,” Lauren Rutherford said. “She would not stop barking.”
Daniel Rutherford said he told his mother that he thought something was on fire.
They then went outside to help their neighbors get their pets and selves out of the rowhome next door.
Daniel Rutherford said the house next door went up in flames in less than 10 minutes.
“If she hadn’t woken us up, we might not have known,” Lauren Rutherford said. “It just happened so fast.”
Hours after firefighters extinguished the blaze, you could see the burned out windows of the neighboring rowhome and you could still smell smoke it in the air.
The Rutherfords and other families all got out of the house OK.
Luckily, no injuries were reported, firefighters said.
The cause of the fire – which began in a home that the Rutherfords said has recently been vacant, but has been used by some squatters – remained under investigation.
Scarlett was hailed a hero.
“I’m thankful that she’s a part of our family,” Lauren Rutherford said.
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