(Representative image)

KANPUR: ‘Dogs are a man’s best friend’ isn’t just a saying, and this was proved yet again in Attarra town of UP’s Banda district on Friday night.

More than 36 people were saved by a pet, which woke them up by barking as a devastating fire broke out in a multi-storey residential-cum-commercial building in Lakhan colony of Attarra. However, the dog lost its life in a cylinder blast during the fire as it was tied up and no one escaping the fire had the time to untie it.

The fire started in the basement of the building, whose third and fourth floors were occupied by several families. The dog belonged to Rakesh Gupta, owner of the furniture and glass company showroom, who lives with his family in the building.

“The dog alerted us in the middle of the night, apparently warning through its loud barking,” said a resident of the building, adding that it died when a LPG cylinder blew up in the fire. Sadly, the families escaping the fire forgot to untie their saviour, he added.

“We were asleep on Friday night when around 11 pm I woke up to my dog’s barking, which was unusual for that hour. I ignored it initially, but when the barks grew louder and it almost started howling, I went out to check if everything was okay. It was only then that I realised that a major portion of the building had been engulfed in flames,” said Gupta.

“Following this, I rushed indoors and asked my family members and all other inmates to move out quickly. We all came out of the burning building safely. Soon after we were out, there were back-to-back cylinder blasts and the dog that was chained couldn’t escape and died in the inferno,” he added.

As the news about the dog’s death spread, inmates received phone calls from various quarters. “The callers praised the canine for its heroic act, we continue to receive calls,” Gupta told TOI over phone on Saturday.

Fire officer Vinay Kumar told TOI that the fire broke out due to a short circuit in the basement of the building. It caused back-to-back LPG cylinder blasts, razing four adjacent buildings.

ASP Banda Lal Bharat Kumar Pal said: “The building housed a furniture factory in the basement and first floor and an electronic showroom on the second floor. Several families lived on the third and fourth floors. The fire started in the basement and spread to other floors.” “We have come to know about a canine, whose heroic act saved lives of nearly 36 people living in the building. The saying that dog is a man’s best friend seems to have been proved yet again,” he added.

