Cat hailed a hero after saving house from fire by opening window

A cat in Britain has been hailed as a hero after it prevented its owner's house from burning down by opening a window.

Pepper, a five-year-old pet cat, had learned to open windows and let himself out every night by hopping on to a kitchen worktop and using his paws to turn the latch.
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When a fire broke while his owners were Christmas shopping, the quick-thinking puss leapt into action and opened the window to allow the acrid smoke to escape.

The billowing cloud of ash alerted neighbours and firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it spread to the rest of the house.

"He first did it (opened the window) at a dinner party and everyone was applauding him, I think it spurred him on," the Daily Mail quoted owner Sharon White, of Totnes, Devon, as saying.

"He can climb back in through the window by jumping diagonally on to the ledge as well so he really does come and go as he pleases.

"Pepper is still a bit spooked by the ordeal but is still managing to eat plenty of food," she added.u00a0

Sharon and husband Phil, a radiologist at Torbay Hospital, Devon, were handed Pepper over four years ago after a neighbour could no longer look after it.

"If Pepper hadn't opened the window the fire would have developed quite a lot," Stefan Belsten, of Devon and Somerset fire service, stated