'Very Protective' Family Dog Helps Rescue 1-Year-Old Girl from Detroit House Fire

Ingrid Vasquez
·2 min read
Janet Kelly, 40, plays with her dog named Blue at Red Roof Inn in Roseville on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.
Janet Kelly, 40, plays with her dog named Blue at Red Roof Inn in Roseville on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.

Sarahbeth Maney/USA TODAY NETWORK

An adorable one-year-old girl is safe after getting caught in a Detroit house fire, thanks to the heroic efforts of her dog Blue.

Blue, a three-year-old pit bull/Lab mix, refused to leave the young girl's side when a fire started in the unit below the family's home, causing black smoke and flames to travel throughout the multi-family residence on Feb. 21.

"I got a phone call that the house was on fire. My fiance's brother was at the home, and he's the one that called," Janet Kelley, the child's mom and Blue's owner, explained to the Detroit Free Press. "He was trying to rush and get the dog, the kids, and everybody out of the house."

When the fire started, the toddler was inside her playpen, so Blue stood guard until firefighters arrived and he could alert rescuers to where the child was located.

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Kelley told the paper that she and her fiancé Daquan Davis were at a local Walmart with her two oldest children, ages 7 and 9, at the time of the fire. She added that Blue's brave actions did not surprise her.

Janet Kelly, 40, and her daughter Shantel Kelly, 1, play with their dog named Blue at Red Roof Inn in Roseville on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.
Janet Kelly, 40, and her daughter Shantel Kelly, 1, play with their dog named Blue at Red Roof Inn in Roseville on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.

Sarahbeth Maney/USA TODAY NETWORK

"(Blue) is very protective over all of us," she said. "He also loves his best friend Smokey, the family cat."

Now, Kelley and her family, which also includes a four-year-old child, are safe but stuck at a Red Roof Inn as they work to recover from the fire which destroyed their home and left them with only the clothes on their backs, a friend of the family, Poni Melange, told WJBK.

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"The reality is that when you are in a fire situation, there is little help out there to get people back on their feet as renters," she added.

"I truly just want my kids to be safe and warm and to be kids. Not worry about where we are sleeping every night," Kelley said to USA Today.

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Kelley has started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of finding a new apartment and replacing her family's belongings.