A black cat was the luckiest thing that ever happened to one Oregon man.
Donald VanWormer says he would have slept through the blaze that tore through his Tillamook home on Feb. 21 if his beloved cat Fred hadn’t jolted him awake.
“Fred jumped on my face and started hitting me with his paws,” VanWormer, 56, told The Post.
“He was going crazy. He woke me up, then I smelled the smoke and realized what was happening.”
He scooped up Fred and rushed for the door.
“There was a dresser in the way and it was confusing in the smoke,” said VanWormer.
“I made it to the living room just as the ceiling started caving in. I was stumbling but finally got out the door.”
VanWormer tripped outside and realized Fred was no longer in his arms. When he tried to go back, he fell and hit his head.
“When I came to, I tried to get back inside to find him, but the firefighters stopped me,” he said.
“I was begging them to help me find him.”
When the fire was finally out, Fred’s body was discovered just inside the doorway.
“He almost made it out,” said VanWormer.
“Fred died saving me.”
Firefighters later told him an overheated dehumidifier likely sparked the blaze.
VanWormer suffered minor burns but declined hospital treatment.
His daughter Iree, 9, and girlfriend Lisa, 56, were away that night, and he’s thankful for that.
VanWormer, now fundraising to rebuild, said the home he spent years building sustained more than $1 million in damage — but the loss that hurts most is Fred.
“I can rebuild my home and replace things,” he said.
“But I can never get Fred back.”
