Firefighters Rescue, Revive Small Dog Found In Burning Home
GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) - No humans were hurt, but a rescue did take place at a burning Grand Rapids home.
Crews were dispatched to the scene Tuesday morning at 1100 Sigsbee St. SE, near Barth Ave. to find heavy smoke in an upstairs apartment.
No residents were inside, Fire Battalion Chief Bart Perry told WWJ's Rob Mason, however, "On their way out the building they did find in their search a small dog within eight to 10 feet from the front door."
"They exited the building with the dog, brought it down to the front yard where two of our guys that were operating pumps outside of the structure took the dog and began giving it oxygen," he said.
Perry estimates that the dog was out of the house within three minutes of the time firefighters were dispatched.
He said the department was fortunate to have recently receive special a respirator designed for pets — and they put it to work.
"Within 20 minutes of delivering oxygen and kind of stimulating the dog in the front yard, encouraging it to breathe and, you know, kind of rubbing it," Perry said, "the dog was up and running around."
A neighbor, Jordan Roberts, snapped a photo of the firefighters working on the dog and shared it on WOOD-TV's Facebook page. WOOD reported Roberts and her kids watched with fascination and a group gathered around cheered when the dog's tail began to wag.
"My sons have been talking about it all day," she posted.
The photo had more than 8,300 likes, 1,200 share and 160 comments of Wednesday afternoon.
Tara Hill Eman wrote: "This is the kind of feel good news I want to see thanks for having our furbabies' backs, GRFD!!! You may not hear it enough, but GR loves you & appreciates all you do!!!!"
"Faith in humanity restored!! Thank you for sharing," added Julie Videan-Boice.
Perry said that although human lives are always their first priority they treat animals with the same care and concern.
"(It's) kind of a success story that we don't often encounter with the fire department," he added.
