A Florida woman barely survived one scary situation because of an unlikely hero

Jan 23, 2025

Avoiding a tragedy can sometimes come down to luck. 

One woman had a guardian angel that she never expected. 

And a Florida woman barely survived one scary situation because of an unlikely hero. 

A hero dog saved an elderly woman from a fire 

Beverly Murphy, an 88-year-old, barely avoided death thanks to one of her family’s dogs. 

Murphy and her adult son, Reggie Murphy, were asleep in their mobile home in Davie, Florida when a fire broke out. 

Footage showed the home being consumed in a blaze as firefighters worked to put it out. 

The home looked to be burnt to the ground from the fire. 

Murphy said her dog woke her up and alerted her that something was wrong. 

“I was asleep but the smoke woke me up — the dog woke me up first — and then I heard this crackling sound,” Murphy recalled. “I couldn’t figure out what the crackling was.” 

She smelled smoke in her home and discovered that her kitchen was on fire. 

“I got up, walked into the kitchen, and it was on fire,” Murphy recalled. “And then I yelled ‘fire’ to Reggie, and he came out of the bathroom, and we got out.”

Murphy and her son were able to escape the fire before it consumed the mobile home. 

Tragically, none of her dogs were able to make it out of the burning home. 

“I think I lost my three dogs,” Murphy said. 

She credited her dog with saving her life that night. 

Murphy and her son were taken to a local hospital for minor smoke inhalation before they were released.

“I’m fine. I’ll survive. The house didn’t, unfortunately,” Murphy stated. 

Neighbors stunned by the tragic fire 

Neighbors were awakened by a loud bang in the middle of the night before the fire spread. 

“I heard a big boom early in the morning, and I thought it was people messing around with firecrackers because I heard a few little ones and I just went back to sleep,” Steve Bucceri told NBC Miami. 

“I hate to see this. I’d like to know what happened,” Bucceri added. 

Firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading to other homes. 

Neighbor Destiny Tejada watched Murphy’s home burn to the ground. 

“I walked outside to see the neighbors’ house was on fire,” Tejada said. “I mean, they’re mobile homes, so they can go up pretty quickly.”

She sympathized with Murphy for losing her beloved family pets. 

“I have three dogs myself,” Tejada said. “She had three dogs, and it’s tragic that they didn’t make it.”

Dogs’ keen sense of smell and excellent hearing allows them to often smell and hear a fire before humans do. 

“Stories of dogs rescuing families from fires prove their ability to sense fire,” WagWalking.com explained. “In terms of rescue behavior, dogs can be amazingly brave and save families from the fire. Dogs have run in search of help and pulled young children from the depths of a burning house. It is certain that dogs sense fire and show signs of reacting to its dangers.”

Beverly Murphy’s hero dog almost certainly saved her life by alerting her that her home was on fire. 

DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.

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