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Dog Licks Family Members To Save Them From Burning Home In Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)—A dog is being hailed a hero after he apparently saved a family from a burning home on Wednesday morning.

According to Jennifer Leary with Red Paw Relief, a 2-year-old shepherd/pit bull mix named "Jack" licked his owners' faces to alert them as flames broke out in the back bedroom of the home in the 1400 block of North Alden Street, in Philadelphia.

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"As soon as I got to the scene they said, '[Jack] saved our lives, he woke us up,'" Leary recounts with CBS Philly.

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Thanks to Jack, the Lomax family was able to get out of the house safely.

"The fire was so bad we would have died," said Aubrey Lomax.

"It could have ended much differently than it did," said Frank Lomax.

According to Leary, four adults and five children made it out of the home unharmed.

Jack and a two cats were also in the home at the time of the fire. Leary says one of the cats did not survive.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Jack and the surviving cat remain in the care of Red Paw Relief.

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