COPIAGUE, N.Y. – A New York family is crediting their foster cats with saving them from a devastating house fire. As reported by CBS New York, while Theresa Stephanie and her husband were asleep, their house began filling with smoke.

Stephanie tells the news agency what happened after hearing the 23 cats in her house making “loud noises,”

“I ran to the bathroom and got a towel and covered my face and then ran to the window and there were people down there screaming for me to jump.”

Stephanie and her husband were forced to jump out of the home to escape the flames that were being fueled by winds; both broke bones in the fall. Despite their injuries, they desperately tried to save the cats inside.

She said, “I couldn’t breathe. I was begging everyone to open the windows. We even have a huge catio in the backyard. I would hope that some made it … They were my life, they are my life.”

One of the cats was found alive after the blaze; rescuers are searching for others who may have escaped. The fire is believed to have been started by a pellet stove that was being used to keep the cats warm.

(Stock image of cat via Pixabay)

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