A family dog has died after shielding an 8-month-old baby from a house fire that broke out in Baltimore on Sunday.
Erika Poremski said she had stepped outside to her car when she turned around to find the house in flames. Her eight-month-old daughter Viviana was still inside with the dog, Polo.
Vivian was upstair and poremski had tried to get in but the fire smoke was so heavy and she couldn’t get past it.” She suffered burns to her hands and face.
“I kept running back out and back in, trying to get up there. Then, the door curling started falling and I couldn’t get back in,” she added.
Poremski said that when firefighters arrived, they found Polo covering Viviana with his body. She said the baby only suffered burns on her arm and side because of the dog’s protection.
The family have created a GoFundMe page to help with medical costs for Viviana, who is still in serious condition. By Saturday morning, it had raised more than $27,000.