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BELLEVILLE — A fire investigator is lauding a Belleville man and his dog who helped his neighbours to safety Monday as their home burned.

Eight residents and two cats managed to escape the “stubborn” blaze, fire officials reported.

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The fire caused extensive damage to a home on South Park Street but there were no injuries.

Resident Erik Johnson, 31, and his dog, Wiser, “did a super job,” alerting neighbours and helping them to leave the burning building, said Belleville fire prevention officer Norm Mitts.

Mitts said the fire started in a car parked beside the home at around 3:09 a.m. and spread to the two-storey house.

Johnson said he had just finished playing a video game when his dog, Wiser, “alerted me that something was up.”

“I could hear (the dog) panic-walking around the living room.”

He led the three-year-old German shepherd-husky mix into the backyard, bordering the yards of homes on South Park Street.