Screaming cats save sleeping couple in New York house fire
COPIAGUE, N.Y. -- A couple says their screaming cats saved their lives by waking them up in the middle of a blazing house fire overnight.
Theresa Stephanie said she and her husband were sound asleep as flames were engulfing their home in Copiague on New York's Long Island.
Couple escapes fire after cats' screams
Stephanie said she woke up to thick black smoke filling the house overnight Wednesday after hearing loud noises from her 23 cats, which she fosters for several animal rescue groups.
"I ran to the bathroom and got a towel and covered my face, and then ran to the window," said Stephanie, "and there were people down there screaming for me to jump."
"I can't believe how fast the house actually went up," neighbor Connie Fine said.
From her hospital bed and on oxygen, Stephanie described how she and her husband jumped in order to escape the raging fire, which officials said was being fueled by whipping wind gusts.
"I took a leap and I jumped because I thought that the roof was there, and it was. I landed on the roof and just to my right the foyer blew up, the foyer between the garage and the house, " Stephanie said.
Frantic search for 23 cats missing after fire
Stephanie, who along with her husband suffered broken bones from the fall, started frantically trying to save the cats.
"I couldn't breathe. I was begging everyone to open the windows. We even have a huge catio in the backyard," she said. "I would hope that some made it ... They were my life, they are my life."
With the house now reduced to rubble, animal rescue volunteers are trying to find signs of the cats, hopefully alive, with thermal imaging devices.
"Cats are survivors. So my hope is that we do find some cats alive," said John Debacker, with Long Island Cat Kitten Solution.
Debacker said Thursday night that one cat was found alive.
First responders believe the fire started due to a pellet stove, which Stephanie said was on to keep the cats warm.
"Between the cold weather, we had some issues with water getting onto the fire and the wind driven, so it became a lot harder," said Chief Daniel Broyles, of the Copiague Fire Department.
Stephanie said she doesn't know why her smoke detectors didn't go off.
