UPDATE: Haverhill Good Samaritan Rescues Dog from Car Fire at Westgate Plaza

Haverhill firefighters rescued a dog from a car fire sparked at the Westgate Plaza Market Basket on Dec. 11. (Courtesy photograph)

A Good Samaritan rescued a dog from a car fire sparked at the Westgate Plaza Market Basket on Dec. 11. (Courtesy photograph)

It wasn’t quite a cat in a tree, but Haverhill firefighters and a kindhearted Good Samaritan came to the aid of a local pet Tuesday, saving the animal from a car fire sparked at Westgate Plaza.

First responders were on scene just after 3 p.m. to extinguish hot spots from a white Toyota Highlander parked outside the supermarket. Haverhill Fire Chief William Laliberty tells WHAV the dog was rescued from inside the SUV by a Good Samaritan named Alex Gabriel, a Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School student who broke a window to save the dog just prior to firefighters’ arrival. In the meantime, store staff made efforts to identify the driver and owners of adjacent cars using the overhead public address system.

The cause of the fire was not immediately available, Laliberty told WHAV.