#North Dakota family saved from their burning home by girl and kitten

A 10-year-old North Dakota girl and her kitten heroically saved their family from their burning home — but sadly, the beloved feline did not survive the fire.

Kassidee Gallaway was sleeping in her Crystal home when her kitten Sage began stroking her face to wake her up at around 6 a.m. on Jan. 20, the Grand Forks Herald reported.

She recalled her home “smelled like burnt pizza” and that she immediately rushed to wake her parents and brother.

“It was really hot in my room. I couldn’t breathe and I went out to get my breath,” Kassidee told the outlet. “I was thinking we weren’t going to make it out.”

Kassidee and her family escaped the flames just in time.

“When the front door was open, all the windows blew out and the fire took off,” her stepfather, Cody Saiger, said. “I don’t think any of us would be here.”

Unfortunately, Sage did not make it out of the burning home.

The family had recently adopted the kitten a month before the tragedy, according to the outlet.

“(We’re) lucky we had her when we did for the short time we did,” said Charlotte Reilly, Kassidee’s mother.

Firefighters who put out the fire gave the family an honorary helmet to pay tribute to the hero kitten.

Fire officials didn’t say what caused the blaze.