South Yorkshire fires: 'Miracle' dog rescued from Maltby house gutted in blaze

The rescue of a dog that survived for four hours inside a house as it burned to a shell has been hailed a "miracle".

Two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, Dickie, was at home while his owner was out when flames swept through the house on Strauss Crescent, in Maltby, near Rotherham, on Tuesday afternoon, 19 July.

His owner returned home and tried to save Dickie, but was taken out of the property by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

It took crews four hours to extinguish the blaze, leaving Dickie's family fearing the worst.

But when firefighters got inside the building, Dickie was found alive and well hiding under a bed.

The fire service tweeted: "A miraculous story has emerged from a fire in Maltby this evening."A Staffordshire bull terrier called Dickie was inside one of the properties affected by the fire for more than four hours, before being reunited with its owner by firefighters."

June Cockayne, the owner's sister, told ITV News: "It is a miracle really because we all thought he was dead. The fireman found him under the bed after they'd put the fire out."

The incident in Maltby was one of more than 200 call-outs dealt with by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service on Tuesday, 19 July, as temperatures hit 40C.

The fire service and police declared a major incident as resources were stretched to unprecedented levels.

Elsewhere in South Yorkshire, houses in Barnsley and Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, were also destroyed.

For people like June and her family, the job is now to salavage whatever they can. But she said there was a sense of relief that no-one had died.

She said: "I'm delighted they're both OK. It could've been worse. Fortunately my brother was out, but unfortunately the dog was in.

"He's a lovely dog. he's usually very boisterous but I think he's a bit traumatised. We'll be happy when he starts eating again.

"We can't get in and salvage anything because it's not safe due to the risk of asbestos."

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