Pet pig burns down house in Pennsylvania while trying to stay warm

A pet pig looking to stay warm inadvertently set its owners’ house on fire over the weekend.

The pot-bellied pig, Albert, lived under the porch of the Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, home of Tom and Margaret Painter.

On Sunday, they gave Albert more hay to keep warm amid the cold. The fire broke out at 8:30 p.m., Unionville Volunteer Fire Company Lt. Andy Hoehn told the local Butler Eagle newspaper.

“I had added extra hay for him because I knew it was going to snow. He had a little heat light there in the front… and he must have knocked his hay into the heat lamp and caught the house on fire,” Ms. Painter told Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE-TV.

The Painters and their kids got out of the burning house OK, along with Albert, a French bulldog and three cats. One of the pets had to be resuscitated.

The fire was put out after 45 minutes, Lt. Hoehn said.

“Crews were able to stop and contain the fire, but significant smoke, heat and water damage was suffered throughout the home. Firefighters also managed to rescue several cats from the home and provided oxygen to successfully revive one furry friend,” the fire department said in a post on Facebook.

Albert, who weighs about 200 pounds, was taken to Kindred Spirits Rescue Ranch in Darlington Township and will live there from now on. The pig was put on morphine to deal with pain from second- and third-degree burns.

Two of the Painters’ other cats perished in the blaze, but the family is thankful to have survived.

“We’re blessed because all the things we have are nothing but material. We’re just passing through. Those things can be replaced, but we have our lives,” Mr. Painter told NBC station WPXI.