Rescue Puppy Honored as ‘Firedog’ for Saving Family from Backyard Blaze

Neko, an 8-month-old rescue, earned the title of “honorary fire dog” after alerting his family to a grass fire in their backyard.

According to Nebraska’s Lincoln Fire & Rescue, Neko’s alert helped ensure his family's safety before the fire spread, and enabled crews to respond faster to the blaze.

The Lincoln Shiba Inu received a "well-deserved” treat and honorary title for his heroism during a visit to Station 7 on June 17, as announced by Lincoln Fire & Rescue on Facebook. "Lucky. Lucky we had him," Neko’s owner, Adam Welke, shared with KETV 7.

"He was begging to go outside, so I let him out and a couple of minutes after, after he was out here, he started barking like mad," Welke relayed. Welke further shared that he realized something was off when he "came out and the fence was on fire.”

Due to the hot weather, the fire began to spread quickly, Welke said, adding that he quickly grabbed a hose, while Hannah Welke dialed 911. "The smoke detectors never went off because everything was outside of the house," Hannah remarked.

The Lincoln Fire Department extinguished the blaze and ensured the family’s cats' safe escape. Neko, who was rescued and adopted by the family in December, had now repaid the favor by "getting us out. I don't know, probably 2, 3, 5 minutes before we would have otherwise," said Hannah.

The honor Neko received for his heroic behavior joins the ranks of other dogs in the nation, like Loki, who was given an honorary "Dogtorate of Medicine" by the University of Maryland for her extensive therapy work.