Firefighters in Baltimore, Maryland say a dog gave his life to protect an 8-month-old baby.

The baby girl, Viviana, survived the blaze when firefighters arrived on the scene and found the dog laying on top of the child in the burning house.

Erika Poremski, the child's mother, said she had stepped out to her car and turned back to find the house in flames and her daughter still inside: "I just heard her crying and I couldn't get to her. I tried really hard, everyone in the neighborhood tried. They were kicking the doors in and kicking the windows out. I couldn't (get her out). Nobody could."

The baby's condition is still critical, and is being monitored day to day.

Speaking to ABC7 News, Poremski said: "He was my first baby and now I lost him. And I'm just praying I don't lose her. She's all I have and it just happened so fast, I just don't understand it. I just don't know why this stuff happens."

A friend of the family set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for Viviana's medical bills, and at the time of posting, had raised over $30,000 over it's $50,000 target.