上周日，巴尔的摩一栋民宅发生火灾，一只家犬在舍身保护一名只有8个月大的女婴后丧命。
A family dog has died after shielding an 8-month-old baby from a house fire that broke out in Baltimore last Sunday.
据CBS报道，艾瑞卡表示，当时自己走到屋外的汽车去拿东西，回来就发现屋子已经着火了，当时在屋里的只有自己8个月大的女儿薇薇安和一只名叫波罗的小狗。
Erika said she had stepped outside to her car when she turned around to find the house in flames, according to CBS News. Her eight-month-old daughter Viviana was still inside with the dog, Polo.
在接受CBS的采访中，艾瑞卡表示："当时宝宝在二楼，我一直试着冲上楼，但是烟太大我根本进不去"。她的胳膊和脸部都有部分烧伤。
"I tried to keep getting in," Erika said in an interview with CBS News. "She was up the stairs, but the fire smoke was so heavy I couldn't get past it." She suffered burns to her hands and face.
她补充说道："我来来回回试了好多次，想要进去。之后，门框被烧变了形，所以我没办法进去。"
"I kept running back out and back in, trying to get up there. Then, the door curling started falling and I couldn't get back in," she added.
艾瑞卡说，当消防员赶到现场时，他们看到狗狗Polo用身体覆盖着小主人薇薇安。由于小狗的保护，小宝宝只有侧身和手臂被烧伤了。
Erika said that when firefighters arrived, they found Polo covering Viviana with his body. The baby only suffered burns on her arm and side because of the dog's protection.
据CBS报道，该家庭在众筹网站GoFundMe上创建了一个网页，希望筹到薇薇安的医药费。目前薇薇安的情况仍然比较严重。
The family created a GoFundMe page to help with medical costs for Viviana, who is still in serious condition, CBS News reported.
据CBS报道，艾瑞卡在谈到polo是表示：它就像我的孩子一样，还没有Viviana的时候，它就是我的第一个孩子，我们去哪它就去哪。"
"He was my first baby before Viv. He was like my child," Erika said of Polo, according to CBS News. "He followed us everywhere."