Kook the pug was honored by the Red Cross in Denver this morning for this:
DENVER - The manager of an apartment building is crediting his dog with saving residents from an early morning fire, which badly damaged the building.The pug, named Kook, woke Patrick Vigil up at 4 a.m., alerting him to the smoke which was filling his apartment."Yes, Kook, he was going crazy because they have that extra sense, evidently," Vigil said. "And we thought he had to go to use the bathroom but it was kind of early but he needed to get out and he let us know that there was something-something wrong in the apartment."Vigil says he went into his living room and smelled smoke and went outside to find the apartment above his was completely engulfed in flames. He says his first reaction was to go into his apartment to grab a $500 bonus check from his boss, then he went to warn his neighbors."I went to each unit and made sure that everyone was up and safe," Vigil said.The building in the 3800 block of Irving Street is subdivided into six apartment units.The home's north side was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, but they were able to extinguish the fire quickly."The unit that was on fire, the lady went on vacation yesterday," Vigil said. "And I believe her cat started the fire and I don't know what happened to the cat."McGrail says the blaze caused serious fire, smoke and water damage to two units and moderate smoke damage to the other four units. It is unclear how many residents will be displaced because of the incident.Denver Fire District Chief David McGrail confirmed all of the residents were able to get out of the building safely."Kook is a real hero as far as I'm concerned," Vigil said.------------------------There's video, too:http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=159327