Meet a Member: Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog Helps Save Lives

When five-year-old Angelica saw smoke from under the covers in the middle of the night, she knew there was a fire. She also knew, thanks to Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, that she had to crawl on the ground to get out of the house as fast as she could.

She told her father, "Come on, Daddy, you have to get down and crawl low, just like Sparkles."

Angelica and her father barely made it out the door before their house was in engulfed in flames.

When Arkansas firefighter and fire safety educator Dayna Hilton was told the story, she was moved by the impact that her Dalmatian Sparkles had had on the child.

"It validated everything that we've been doing for years," Hilton tells PEOPLEPets.com. "Animals have so much more of an impact in helping share a message."

Hilton and Sparkles (pictured, top) have been educating children about fire safety since 2003, when Hilton adopted the calm Dalmatian that had been rescued from a home with 62 other dogs.

Sparkles loved kids, and she picked up how to crawl low on the first try, which made her the perfect partner for Hilton.

"There's no telling how many miles she's crawled demonstrating how to crawl low," Hilton says. "It's been a wonderful journey being her friend and being able to share the fire safety message together."

Inspired by her loyal educating buddy, Hilton wrote a children's book, called Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, and started the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation. They have even appeared together on PBS KIDS Sprout along with Hilton's other rescue dogs Spanner and Tango.

Sparkles, now 11, isn't able to crawl as much as she used to, so Hilton has started to Skype to schools from home along with Sparkles, who still has a lot of spirit.

"The love that she has for helping me is just amazing," Hilton says. "It really keeps me going, and the children love her."

Click here to become friends with Sparkles and Dayna on PEOPLEPets.com!

Meet more members in the PEOPLEPets.com community:
Meet a Member: Hannah and Marco Live in a World of Silence
Meet a Member: Heather Rosenwald Helps Black Dogs Break the Color Barrier

Helin Jung, helin@peoplepets.com