Bird Alerts Family, Dies In San Diego Area Fire
RANCHO BERNARDO, Calif. (AP) -- A young mother says her bird Dexter squawked and screeched, alerting her to fire in their San Diego-area home. She was unable to put the fire out or save the bird before running from the home with her 3-month-old son.
San Diego fire spokesman Maurice Luque says Tuesday's 10 a.m. fire caused $750,000 damage to two homes in the four-unit complex in Rancho Bernardo. It started in a laundry room near the bird's cage when items near a furnace caught fire.
Luque told the San Diego Union-Tribune the mother grabbed her son and ran after being unable to put the fire out with an extinguisher.
Luque says she credits the 2-year-old Goffin Cockatoo for saving the lives of her and her son and is devastated by the bird's death.
