GREENVILLE, NC – An early Saturday morning fire in Greenville left 19 people without a home and sent four people, including a firefighter, to the hospital.
Now two families are without more than just belongings.
Just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning, Marc Martinez got a call, his daughter, Karina was in trouble.
“My wife gets a phone call and it’s very very chaotic [cause] she has her on speaker phone and my daughter is very, very distraught she was screaming that the apartment was on fire,” explained Martinez.
When first responders arrived at the 1200 block of Park West Drive, they saw an apartment building engulfed in flames.
Martinez said first responders were the heroes of the day.
“The great Greenville Fire and Rescue department of the city did us very very proud they made this even just a little bit more tolerable, said Martinez.
But not all heroes wear a uniform.
“Her dog wouldn’t settle down so she had called him up on her bed to cuddle with him,” he explained. “But he was still sitting up and he kept huffing and kinda barking at the wall.”
Karina’s dog, a 2-year-old German Shepard named Riddick alerted her to the fire, and helped get her out safely.
“She went down the landing, cause there were flames already licking down, but the dog got scared and went back up and would not come down, said Martinez.
But Riddick never came back down.
“He was her best friend they were inseparable and he did what he was supposed to do he warned her and took care of her.”
Firefighters retrieved Riddick, and the family will be able to have a proper burial for their beloved family member.
Riddick wasn’t the only four legged family member lost.
Sacoria Farmer also lost her Yorkie named, Polo.