Cat saves Ill. family from fire during the night

By Tina Sfondeles and Rosemary Sobol
The Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — Like many heroes, Baby the Cat didn't hang around waiting for a thank-you.

The 13-year-old tabby saved her owners — a pregnant woman and her boyfriend — early Monday morning by waking them up and alerting them that their far northwest suburban home was on fire.

But then the fast-thinking feline took a powder.

Letitia Kovalovsky, seven months pregnant with twins, and her boyfriend Joshua Ornberg, made it out of their Wonder Lake home safely, along with Baby and their 4-year-old dog.

But Baby was missing in action soon after.

"We're hoping she was just scared and will come back," Kovalovsky said.

The cat was spooked by the fire, which erupted about 12:05 a.m. in the couple's bedroom and spread to another bedroom reserved for the coming twins.

Kovalovsky, 36, was uncomfortable and spent the night sleeping on the living room couch with Ornberg.

"The cat started bugging him and when he woke up, he noticed that the living room was filling with smoke,'' Wonder Lake Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Mike Weber said.

Kovalovsky said Baby "just kind of jumped on us and we knew something was up."

The fire was thought to have been sparked by a lava lamp inside the couple's bedroom.

No one was hurt.

The couple hope Baby will be waiting for them when they return to inventory what was lost.

The cat is white, gray, brown and tan and has a wishbone shape of white on her back.

"We set up a kind of live trap and put some tuna underneath the porch and are hoping that she knows to come back," Kovalovsky said.

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