Emma Pieper was asleep in her bedroom with Natalie, 8, when their dog Missy jumped between them on the bed and started to growl, just after midnight yesterday.

Woken by Missy’s growls, Ms Pieper heard the smoke alarm, rushed to the hall and saw Natalie’s room ablaze.

She grabbed Natalie and ran, and said she was left feeling helpless as she watched her McGeoch Court home go up in flames.

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The fire, although restricted to Natalie’s room at the back of the house, caused extensive smoke damage, effectively ruining almost all of their belongings.

All firefighters could salvage from the little girl’s room was one drawer, a few charred books and a damaged recorder.

Natalie held on tight to the teddy bear the CFA had given her, which she called Firefighter Fred, as she rummaged through her blackened things with tears streaming down her face.

She worried over the school books and uniforms that were lost in the fire, as the new school year looms.

Ms Pieper was able to salvage from the kitchen a butterfly necklace that Natalie had got for her birthday.

When her mum pulled the necklace out of her pocket, Natalie grabbed it in both hands and held it tight to her chest.

“She was lucky to have clothes at mum’s house or she would still be in her pyjamas,” Ms Pieper said.

Ms Pieper said it was fortunate they had been sleeping in the same room.

She was also thankful her son, Lucas Waite, 10, was staying at his grandmother’s for the night.

Wodonga fire investigators determined the blaze was caused by a pedestal fan which overheated and caught on fire.

Wodonga CFA station officer and fire investigator David Brown said the incident highlighted the importance of a working smoke alarm.

“If they didn’t have a working smoke detector they wouldn’t have been alerted to the fire because it was in a different room and the outcome could have been tragic,” he said.