Firefighters responded to a house fire Sunday, Aug. 14, in Baltimore and rescued an 8-month-old infant. (Baltimore Fire Department)
Baltimore firefighters battling a fire in a row house found a family dog shielding an 8-month-old child from the flames with his body, according to a report Friday.
Polo the dog died in the fire Sunday but is being credited with saving the baby, Fox5 DC reported.
Erika Poremski tried frantically to save her daughter Viviana before firefighters arrived. She had stepped out to the car when the home burst into flames.
“Erika was just screaming, ‘My baby, my baby!’ and running up and down the steps on the street,” a neighbor told the station. Poremski suffered burns to her hands as she tried to get back inside.
Firefighters found Polo protecting Viviana in a second-floor bedroom.
Paramedics revived Viviana who suffered burns to her face, arm and side. She was in the hospital in serious condition.
Poremski was grief-stricken over the loss of Polo and what he did to protect Viviana.
“She only had burns on her side because of it,” she told WBAL-TV. “He stayed with her the whole time in the bedroom and wouldn't even come downstairs to get out the door.”
According to one report the dog was six-years-old.
“He was my first baby and now I lost him,” Poremski told WBAL.
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