Kitten started house fire before saving owners by meowing until they woke up

A six-week-old kitten accidentally started a fire by knocking over a scented candle in a bedroom, but then saved the day with loud meows. Tiny Jesse, who has only been part of the Rogers family for two days, decided to go exploring her new home in Stockport, Graeter Manchester, while the family of six were fast asleep. But when she stumbled upon an unattended scented candle and knocked it over, it was her desperate meows that woke up her 12-year-old owner, Hal.



As the flames grew bigger and smoke filled the upstairs of their terraced home, the family was forced to abandon the kitten inside, unsure whether their newest family member was still alive. Lynn Rogers said: “My husband woke me up and said the house is on fire and I just couldn’t believe it. It’s like something from a film. And the smoke was really bad upstairs, my daughter Ellie was hanging out her bedroom window trying to get some clean air to breath.” The family waited a painstaking half an hour while firefighters tended to the fire and started looking for Jesse.

Lynn added: “We only got her on Thursday and my son Hal kept saying 'oh my god no, she’s dead, she’s dead'. He was just curled up crying.” But when one firefighter appeared from the house holding a tiny bundle moving fur, the family was overwhelmed with joy that Jesse had managed to survive. Lynn said: “We all just started screaming when we saw the fireman carrying Jesse in his palm. It’s unbelievable that we were all struggling to breathe and Jesse, with her tiny lungs, managed to survive the flames and smoke.” As the rest of the family received medical attention from firefighters, Jesse got in line for her own check up.



Lynn, who lives with her four children and husband, said: “I asked if they could check Jessie over too because she had been inside for so long while the flames and smoke were everywhere. They took her heart rate with the same equipment used on us and it was nearly bigger than her whole body.” The family brought Jesse home on Thursday and were surprised by her confidence and eagerness to explore but they never expected something so tiny to cause so much drama. Watch Manager David Mee said: “You should never light candles and go to bed. In addition, pets are unpredictable. If you have candles on and are leaving the room for any reason, blow them out.”