Dog Accidentally Starts N.C. Fire

BELMONT, N.C. --

A father of three out of work for weeks lost his home and investigators said that the family dog accidentally started the fire.

Its a sad thing because I mean we own this house and it is all we got, said owner Alfonzo Armstrong. The family had been struggling to pay their bills and recently had their power turned off.

Armstrong took Eyewitness News into his house on Roper Street and said that it was close to feeling like home again.

Armstrong said that he got behind on his bills and had been out of work for weeks because of a slow economy. He recently started working again and was close to paying off the electric bill.

The family went three days without electricity and was using an oil lamp for lighting the home and the lamp wasnt turned completely out.

A playful pet pit bull somehow got inside the home Thursday night and knocked over the lamp while Armstrong was at a friends house.

Armstrong received a phone call from a neighbor and was told that he house was on fire. I thought he was playing at first, Armstrong said. He said he was serious.

The truth hit him when he rushed over and saw the flames shooting out of the house.

It is a sad, sad thing," Armstrong said.

The dog made it out and was hiding under the house when firefighters rescued him.

The fire marshal deemed the fire an accident.

Armstrong said the good news is that the home is insured but he knows it is going to be a struggle trying to get back on his feet in the workplace while trying to rebuild a home for his family.

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