A yappy dog alerted a Surrey family to a fire burning in their basement suite early Thursday morning.
The quick-spreading fire is being deemed suspicious by investigators.
When crews arrived at the Sullivan Heights home around 4 a.m., flames were shooting through the roof and fire was on every floor.
The family woke up after their tenant’s dog, Maverick, started barking in the basement around 4 a.m.
"Then I noticed the fire on the south side of the house then I realized the fire is coming up and then I rushed up to take my family outside," said homeowner Nagabadra Tadikonda.
Crews rescued another dog from a second suite downstairs, and no one was injured.
A basement tenant said she heard yelling and other noises before her dog began barking and her unit filled with smoke.
"The gate kept opening and closing, doors slamming. Then I heard a glass break," said tenant Kayla Beck, who said she pushed her dog out the window and followed him out after she realized the house was on fire.
Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control but not before the roof collapsed and much of the inside burned. Damage is described as “extensive.”
Surrey fire investigators are now working with RCMP to try and piece together what happened.
The homeowner is just happy his family of four and the tenant all made it out safely, saying the damage can be dealt with.
"My family is safe. That's more important. That's what I'm very much happy about," said Tadikonda.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help basement tenant Kayla Beck, whose dog alerted the family to the fire. The fundraiser, set up by her mother, says the young woman lost everything she owns in the fire.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Ben Miljure
