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Rio, a Dalmatian, saved his family from a fire Jan. 1, 2016. He, though, died in the blaze.

(provided photo)

Baldwinsville, N.Y. -- Rio the dog loved his people, Pam and Pat Netti. He was never far from them.

Thursday night, he curled up in his dog bed at the foot of their bed, just like always. Friday morning, they woke to him stirring, pulling at them and barking, said Patty Giarrusso, a longtime friend of the Netti family. The family's home on Eden Lane in Baldwinsville was on fire. Rio, a Dalmatian, was trying to get them out.

Pat Netti opened the bedroom door and the smoke poured in. Pam Netti went to the front bedroom window and screamed for help. A neighbor, who happened to be a volunteer firefighter, brought over a ladder.

Pam and Pat looked for Rio and called his name, but the dog seemed to be nowhere, Giarrusso said. The smoke was thick and getting thicker. The couple had no choice. They stepped onto the porch roof with nothing but their pajamas on. Pam was barefoot.

Firefighters later found Rio dead on the bedroom floor. The family is heartbroken, Giarrusso said.

Rio was 13. He came to the family when he was three months old, Giarrusso said. The Netti's son, Christoper, rescued the puppy from an abusive home. The Nettis' two sons grew up, moved away, and had families of their own. But Rio stayed.

He loved to chase squirrels and tennis balls, Giarrusso said. And when Rio was happy, which was often, it was hard not to notice. He whipped his tail around in full circles, like a propeller.

Rio would jump straight in the air to greet kids and neighbors over the backyard fence. All the neighborhood kids called him "Rio the fire dog," Giarrusso said.

Like all dogs, Rio was prone to a bit of mischief and thievery, Giarrusso said. She recalled a time when she was visiting her friends. Pam Netti had put out a plate of cheese and pepperoni in the kitchen. They had some wine, then went into the kitchen to get the plate. Rio had stolen all of the pepperoni. But he left his people the cheese.

Giarrusso said Pam and Pat Netti didn't hear the smoke detectors Friday morning; they're not sure why they didn't go off. A few days before, the house was full with the couple's children and grandchildren, who were visiting for the holidays.

Pat Netti changed the smoke detector batteries in advance of the visit, Giarrusso said.

Though Rio was a large dog, he was gentle and careful with the couple's grandchildren: a five-year-old and a newborn.

No one knows where Rio was when the couple was calling for him. It's possible he went to check the rest of the house to make sure the boys he grew up with and their kids weren't still there. Or it's possible he tried to leave the house by going downstairs.

One thing is certain, Giarrusso said. Rio the fire dog saved Pam and Pat Netti, just as they had saved him nearly a dog lifetime ago.

"They would have died," she said.

Rio the fire dog loved his tennis balls and squirrels. But he loved his people most of all.

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