"I was sleeping and so was my husband and so was my dog Abe and then all of a sudden he started barking and that alerted us,” said Alyssa Young, the homeowner.
The Fort Smith Fire Department responded to the call around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday (July 17) on south 31st street after neighbors called 911.
Neighbors say they saw red flames shooting up out of the backyard.
“It was foggy, we saw a foggy haze and we could smell smoke and then we started hearing people banging on the door,” Young said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to fire chief Ronnie Rogers, but the homeowners believe it started near a hot tub in the backyard and spread to the attic of the home.
The home was heavily damaged, but the majority of it is contained in the upstairs.
“Everything in my daughter’s room and her entire bedroom is gone,” Young said.
She believes if it wasn’t for Abe, they may not have made it out in time.
"Those things can be replaced but human life cannot,” Young said.