Pit Bull Saves Woman From House Fire In Long Island, New York; Dog's Bark Saves Woman From Burning Home[VIDEOS]

A Long Island, New York, woman's house was burning down and she was saved by the bark of her pit bull.

Jackie Bonasera was going about her day, blow-drying her hair in her upstairs bedroom when her pitbull started barking uncontrollably outside. Bonasera was alarmed because she claims her dog rarely barks.

When she went to check out the scene she was in for the shock of her life. Her garage was on fire and it was quickly spreading to the rest of the house.

I ran out of the house and my neighbors came running over, and then I thought about the dog. I'm like, 'He saved my life, I have to save his,'" Bonasera said.

"So I just put my robe over my face and I ran back in and I grabbed the dog and then I stood out here and I watched my house burn."

Both Nassau County woman and pit bull escaped the ordeal unharmed.

The Long Island woman is sure she wouldn't have been able to escape the fire had the dog not alerted her. The explosive fire needed more than 70 firefighters to extinguish.  Bonasera feels extremely lucky to have the pooch.

"He's definitely the town hero.  He's a pit bull, too.  They have such bad reps, but he's such a good boy," she said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, but police do not believe it is suspicious or foul play.

This is not the first time an animal has saved family members from blazing fires.  Cats have done it too!

In 2010 Minnesota housewife, Dianne Busscher, was woken up at 4:45 a.m. by the cries of the family cat, Oreo, coming from the garage. Busscher went down stairs to see what the fuss was about. What she saw was smoke and flames; she quickly grabbed the cat and rushed back inside to wake up her husband and their five children.
The fire destroyed the garage and a bedroom. None of the family was harmed thanks to the cat's cries. As an interesting side note, none of the family had been too fond of the cat before this incident!

And in Texas, in 1982, a 2-year-old child had been walking with his grandmother when Arf, the family dog, became very agitated; the dog became so agitated that the grandmother thought it best to take the child inside. Mrs. Sparks, the child's mother, came out to find Arf in a fight with a 24 inch North-American coral snake.  The mother shot the snake and the child was saved.

Think about adopting a homeless animal from your local animal shelter and you may avoid life-threatening events as he's families have.