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‘Anton! Anton!’ Green parrot calls its owner to save him from house fire

A man has survived a house fire that gutted his Brisbane home overnight after his pet parrot sounded the alarm before smoke detectors kicked in.

Nov 04, 2020, updated Nov 04, 2020
Anton Nguyen's parrot, Eric, alerted him to the fire when he squawked his owner's name. (Photo: ABC News: Stuart Bryce)

Anton Nguyen's parrot, Eric, alerted him to the fire when he squawked his owner's name. (Photo: ABC News: Stuart Bryce)

The house, on Salstone Street at Kangaroo Point, was engulfed in flames when crews arrived just after 2:00am.

Resident Anton Nguyen said he was lucky to escape uninjured after his bird, Eric, alerted him to danger.

“I heard a bang and Eric — my parrot — he started to yell so I woke up and I smelled a bit of smoke,” he said.

“I grabbed Eric, opened the door and looked to the back of the house and saw some flames.

“And so I’ve grabbed my bag and took off and bolted downstairs.”

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QFES Acting Inspector Cam Thomas said the parrot squawked “Anton! Anton!” to alert Mr Nguyen of the danger.

“There was a gentleman asleep at the time,” he said.

“He heard a large bang and his parrot, Eric, actually alerted him to get out of the building and they both got out fine.

“There were smoke detectors [but] the bird alerted before the smoke detectors went off.”

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

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