A rescue dog “deserves a medal” after waking her owners as flames swept through a west London townhouse in the middle of the night.
Missy Moo, a four-year-old terrier-cross, started barking as her owner Rob Jameson, 40, his girlfriend Anastazja Duda, 29, and flatmate Tim Hughes, 42, slept in their beds.
As a wall of thick, black smoke filled the ground-floor flat, Mr Hughes dialled 999 while the others escaped.
Neighbours on the first and second floors, as well as a couple with a young baby in the basement flat, were all evacuated from the converted house in Stanlake Road, Shepherd’s Bush.
One woman on the second floor had to be rescued from the roof.
Mr Jameson, manager of the Portobello Gold pub in Portobello Road, took in Missy Moo four years ago from a vet after she was suspected to have a deadly virus.
He said: “I cannot be certain we would be here today if it wasn’t for Moo.
“My girlfriend woke up and realised there was a problem because Moo was barking and smoke was coming into the room.
“If Moo wasn’t there, it could have spread into the other flats and the whole building may have gone up in flames. She is absolutely a hero.
The cause of the blaze is believed to be a faulty electrical socket in the living room, which melted a leather chair and filled the converted townhouse with acrid smoke at just before 4am on Monday.
Mr Jameson said: “Anastazja works at a fabulous steakhouse in the West End, so Moo has been well rewarded with lots of left-over fillets and T-bones.”
Mr Hughes, a web producer, said Missy Moo “deserves a medal” adding: “She’s the best flatmate I’ve ever had.”
Mr Jameson and Mr Hughes praised the fire brigade for arriving within two minutes of the 999 call and urged other Londoners to make sure they install working smoke alarms.
Fire fighters nicknamed the dog Smokey after they rushed to the scene.
Watch Manager John Bishop who was the first fire officer at the scene, said: “On arrival there was a lot of smoke pouring out from the property.
"People were still inside the building so I quickly committed a rescue team in breathing apparatus and requested further fire engines to help with rescuing several people on the upper floors and roof who were calling for help.”
