The only thing that saved the people from being burned to death was the fact that their pet pig woke them when the fire started, so they got out safe even though the house was a total loss.
The local news thought this was a good story so they came out to interview the family and meet the pet pig. The dad told the story and the reporter noticed the pig only had three legs. The reporter asked how the pig came to only have three legs and the dad said "Well, with a special pig like this you don't want to eat him all at once."