Cat alerts sleeping Oakmont family to fire in home

An Oakmont family was roused awake by one of their foster cats in the early-morning hours of Nov. 22.

The cat was alerting them of a fire that had broken out on the first floor of their home.

When firefighters arrived at the home on California Avenue, the Jonathan Schwieger; his wife, Vanessa; and their children, Xander and Vivienne, were standing safely outside, having been saved by their cat.

“We got on their scene and noticed heavy fire coming out of the back of the house, which was the kitchen area, and it was going up into the second floor. We initially attacked the fire, and we were searching for cats,” said Joe Flanick, chief of Oakmont Volunteer Fire Department.

Flanick said the emergency crews were able to put out the fire quickly, and the Schwiegers and their dog were unharmed.

“The resident had said that there was possibly two cats inside. So we searched for them, and we ended up finding them later on, they’re both deceased,” Flanick said.

The family had been fostering the cats for Starlight Strays Sanctuary, located in Penn Hills, for about two weeks before the fire broke out.

At the time of the fire, the family had no working smoke detectors, Flanick said.

“It just so happened to be that fate would put those cats in that house at that time, and when their house would catch on fire, and it would potentially save their life,” Flanick said.

“The cat’s actually the real hero here.”