A sweet pit bull named Ace recently saved the life of a deaf 13-year-old Indianapolis boy after licking his face to wake him up and alert him that the house was on fire.

The Associated Press spoke to Indianapolis Fire Department Captain Rita Reith, who confirmed that 13-year-old Nick Lamb was home alone and sleeping without his hearing aids when the fire started. His pit bull, Ace, didn't stop licking his face until he woke up to a house full of smoke. Lamb said:

"My dog licked my face and woke me up. I was like, `Stop it! What? You want to be fed?' I thought he wanted to be fed or go outside." ... "I couldn't hear anything because I had my cochlear implants off. ... My dog Ace smelled it. I just wanted to get out."

He and Ace then escaped the fire, and Lamb called 911 and his mother, Lindsay Bernard. Bernard spoke to the AP, saying, "It's amazing, because if he wouldn't have been there, he probably wouldn't have even woke up."

Firefighters also found the family's cat, "Pixie," in the home. The cat—who did nothing to save the boy's life, unlike the dog—let it be known—was taken to a vet for smoke inhalation and is expected to recover.

[image via AP]