On Dec. 23, 2025, an RV in Florida's St. Lucie County caught fire while Joi Roberts and her daughter Heather Belliveau were sleeping inside. Smoke quickly filled the space. They later told WPTV and People that their rescue dog Wiley barked until they woke up, giving them time to escape. Heather said that if it had been 30 seconds later, she did not know whether she could have gotten her mother out.
St. Lucie County, Florida, United States | Wiley
The first alarm in sleep
Public reports place the fire on Dec. 23, 2025. Joi Roberts and her daughter Heather Belliveau were living in an RV. Late at night or early in the morning, the vehicle caught fire and toxic smoke filled the interior quickly.
In a space like that, smoke can steal a person's ability to react before flames reach them. While both women were still asleep, rescue dog Wiley began barking and kept barking. He did not let the danger pass as ordinary noise; he pulled the humans back from sleep with repeated alarms.
The difference of 30 seconds
Heather Belliveau later told WPTV that if it had been 30 seconds later, she was not sure she could have gotten her mother out of the RV. People preserved that line in its report and also noted that smoke had already engulfed the vehicle.
This is not an inflated heroic tale. It is the real scale of time in a fire: sometimes the distance between life and death is not minutes, but half a minute, a few breaths, and an animal who does not stop sounding the alarm.
After the RV was gone
The fire destroyed the RV and also Roberts' resale business. Public images show the inside scorched, wiring melted, and almost everything in the living space ruined by smoke and fire. The mother and daughter later stayed in a hotel, while relatives started a GoFundMe to help rebuild their lives.
Ginger's Pet Food Pantry also said on social media that it was helping the family and making sure the two small dogs had food, supplies and care after the loss of their home. That detail keeps the story from ending at escape; it follows the question of how a family survives afterward.
Why this record matters
Wiley's story is a clear family-pet rescue record. He had no fire-service training and no official rescue role, but he woke the humans when danger first appeared. For a life that had been adopted and cared for, this was care returned.
This archive preserves the story because it shows a plain but important form of mutual protection. Animals in a home are not decoration. When disaster approaches, they may be the first to notice danger and the most persistent members calling for help.
Timeline
- 2025-12-23 In St. Lucie County, Florida, the RV where Joi Roberts and Heather Belliveau were staying caught fire.
- Same day Rescue dog Wiley kept barking, woke the sleeping mother and daughter, and helped them escape in time.
- Afterward The RV and part of the family's livelihood were destroyed; relatives opened a GoFundMe, and Ginger's Pet Food Pantry said it was helping care for the dogs.
- 2026-01-04 People reported the story using WPTV, GoFundMe and related public information.
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