FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2014 A mother and daughter say they owe their lives to their rescue dog, Wiley, after a fire tore through their RV while they were sleeping.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s left of the RV where Joi Roberts and her daughter Heather Belliveau lived is now a burned shell \u2014 charred wood, melted wiring, and ash covering nearly everything inside.<\/p>\n
WATCH WPTV’S COVERAGE BELOW:<\/p>\n
Rescue dog saves mother and daughter from deadly RV fire while they slept<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was smoke,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd [Heather] said, \u2018Mom, the RV is on fire.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The fire started while both women were asleep. They say if it hadn\u2019t been for Wiley, they might not be alive today.<\/p>\n
Roberts and Belliveau say Wiley began barking, alerting them just moments before toxic smoke filled the RV.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in shock,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really know what to do. We were just trying to assess what needed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Belliveau says the timing made all the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it would have been 30 seconds later, I don\u2019t know that we would have been able to get my mom out,\u201d she said. \u201cThe place was engulfed with smoke at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you rescued him, and then he rescued you,\u201d asked WPTV\u2019s Michael Hoffman. \u201cHe absolutely did,\u201d Belliveau said.<\/p>\n
In the hours after the fire, Ginger\u2019s Pet Food Pantry, a local nonprofit, stepped in to help \u2014 donating toys, treats, and beds to celebrate Wiley, the four-legged hero.<\/p>\n
While most of their belongings were destroyed, Roberts says one unexpected thing survived the fire \u2014 Christmas presents for her grandkids, untouched except for a bit of soot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t explain it,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cOther than it\u2019s just another miracle. I think we had an evening of miracles, a night of miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite losing their home, their belongings, and Roberts\u2019 resale business, both women say they are focused on gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all just stuff that can be replaced,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cMy daughter can\u2019t be replaced. Her dogs can\u2019t be replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t be replaced,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t be replaced,\u201d Roberts replied. \u201cBut I\u2019m grateful because we still have a foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family says they are currently staying in a hotel while working toward a more permanent living situation. A GoFundMe has been set up to help them rebuild, and a link can be found here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2014 A mother and daughter say they owe their lives to their rescue dog, Wiley,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-94885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}