Men Flee Burning House After Dogs Awaken Them

Two men alerted by their barking dogs jumped from a second-story window Wednesday morning to save themselves from a fire that caused an estimated $535,000 damage to a home, fire department officials said.

Fifty firefighters were sent to 6917 Pacific View Drive after the call came in at 4:32 a.m., city fire department spokesman Jim Wells said. “The dogs alerted them to the fire,” Wells said. “When [the men] woke up, they heard the alarms from smoke detectors going off also.”

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Though a 3-year-old dog named Mix and another canine in the house were being touted as heroes, help also came from a neighbor who called 911 and then ran outside to help the men.

“They just hung over the balcony,” said Greg Bond, who lives across the street. “One guy dropped down. And the other guy didn’t want to jump. I just said, ‘You should jump. You can jump or wait, but I would jump.’ ”

One of the men who leaped suffered a shoulder injury, Wells said, but was treated at the scene and released. The dogs were unharmed, according to firefighters.