'Vocal' chicken saves couple from house fire

An American couple escaped a house blaze after their pet chicken alerted them to the fire.

Dennis Murawska, 59, and his wife, Susan Cotey, 52, were woken by Cluck Cluck's loud squawking from their basement in the early hours of the morning.

The smoke alarms in their house failed to go off, and Mr Murawska said he only realised something was seriously wrong when his wife got up, and when they realised their two cats were agitated too. He explained: "The chicken gets quite vocal when she gets excited."

Cluck Cluck came from a nearby farm in Alma Center, and although a neighbour suggested he kill it for food, Mr Murawska felt sorry for the chicken and kept her. He even built a special coop for the bird, who has a mutated foot - and then the couple decided to keep her in the basement on cold nights.

"I spent way more money than I ever should've," Murawska admitted. "I guess it paid off."

They escaped, and firefighters found the chicken in its cage and one of the cats alive in the basement. The other cat is missing and presumed dead. The house was destroyed in the fire, but the pair are thankful to the chicken for saving their lives.

Alma Center Fire Chief Jeff Gaede said of the incident: "We are used to hearing about a dog or cat or something, but we never heard of a chicken waking up a resident for a fire. That's pretty amazing."