Liana Lopez was working a normal shift at her local YMCA when her phone buzzed with a message that made her blood run cold.
There was a fire.
At her house.
She didn’t hesitate.
“I got a text from my best friend that there was a fire and I should come home,” Lopez told The Dodo. “I ran home as fast as I could.”
As she sprinted toward her street, confusion turned into terror. Police had blocked off the road. Neighbors crowded the sidewalks. Thick smoke curled into the sky.
Then she saw it.
Smoke was pouring from her bedroom window.
And inside that room was someone she loved more than anything — her tiny pet mouse, Chris Brown.
Lopez rushed toward the firefighters, panic in her voice, tears streaming down her face.
“I told one firefighter, ‘PLEASE. He is small, but he is very important, and he’s very special to me. Please get him out. I don’t care about my clothes and stuff — JUST PLEASE get my pet mouse.’”
But the flames were too fierce. The heat too intense. No one could enter her room yet.
All Lopez could do was wait.
She sat on the grass, helpless, watching fire consume the place she called home. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt endless. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the flames began to die down.
When it was safe, a firefighter ran inside.
Lopez held her breath.
Moments later, he reappeared at the top of the steps carrying something blackened and dripping wet — a charred aquarium cage.
And then he shouted the word she had been praying to hear.
“ALIVE.”
“After 2–3 hours, he walked down the steps with the aquarium and said, ‘ALIVE,’” Lopez said.
Lopez collapsed to her knees in relief.
The firefighter gently placed the cage on the ground and lifted the lid. Inside, shaking and soaked from the hose water, was Chris.
The ceiling had collapsed onto his cage. Debris covered his tiny body. His fur was wet and matted. He was terrified.
But he was alive.
No one could believe it.
Still, survival was only the first hurdle. Lopez rushed Chris to the vet, where he was diagnosed with a double lung infection and pneumonia. Each breath came with a faint clicking sound — a reminder of how close he had come to tragedy.
You can see more footage from his rescue here:
Determined to save him, Lopez committed to an intense treatment routine.
“Chris is on two different antibiotics twice a day,” she explained. “I also have to nebulize him with gentamicin and a saline solution every 12 hours.”
The fire destroyed everything Lopez owned. Her home. Her belongings. The life she had been building.
Now, facing mounting veterinary bills and without a place to live, she’s preparing to move across the country — leaving behind her job, her school and her friends.
It’s a heartbreaking reset.
But through it all, one thing remains.
“Emotionally, he has been my ray of sunshine throughout this,” Lopez said. “Every time I think about how sad I am about all of my lost belongings … I just keep telling myself all of those things are replaceable, and Chris is not. And I’m so lucky he survived. It’s really a miracle.”
From a smoke-filled bedroom to a second chance at life, Chris’ story is proof that miracles don’t always come in big packages.
Sometimes, they fit inside a tiny, trembling mouse.
To help Chris Brown get the veterinary care he desperately needs, you can donate to Liana’s GoFundMe here.
To keep up with Chris Brown’s recovery, you can follow him on Instagram.
