Barking dogs and a homeless man who had been given a warm place to sleep overnight saved a paralyzed man from a fire that destroyed his Pompano Beach home Tuesday morning, a fire official said.
The 44-year-old homeowner, Eddie Garcia, was sleeping in his bedroom just after 8 a.m. when his two dogs started barking frantically, said Pompano Beach Fire-Rescue spokeswoman Sandra King.
The barking awoke Garcia, and he yelled out to the homeless man, Jose Galina, who occasionally sleeps in a cot on the porch of the home in the 1900 block of Northeast First Avenue.
Galina ran into the bedroom, saw thick black smoke and carried the disabled man outside with the dogs trailing him, King said.
"Indeed, a homeless man saved the life of a handicapped man, his friend and the dogs, as well," King said. "There was a lot at work here. I fear without those two factors, something serious, injury or death, would have occurred."
Firefighters doused the fire within minutes, but the blaze left the house uninhabitable. Investigators estimated damage to the property at $100,000.
No one was injured, but a cat and bird died in the blaze, King said.
Smoking materials left in a locked bedroom apparently started the fire, Pompano Beach Fire Marshal Don Washington said. Eight people lived in the house, but the only ones who were at the home when the fire began were the homeless man and the homeowner, King said.
The American Red Cross said it was providing shelter, food and clothing for the victims.
