The fire broke out Tuesday in the kitchen of a home, and lethal smoke quickly spread through the house. The homeowners were not home at the time, but their toy poodles were inside, near death.
Firefighters rescued the dogs, and emergency management technicians Caitlyn Burbank and Casey Jo Clifton went to work, resuscitating as many as they could.
"We instantly hooked them up to oxygen, which has spouts in the rig, and had them all masked," Burbank said.
The EMTs initially thought they'd only be able to save a few of the dogs, but they manged to do much more -- they saved all of them. And on Thanksgiving day, they got their reward when they were reunited with the dogs they had saved.
The EMTs said they don't get much training in animal CPR, but when they saw the dogs limping and dying, they instinctively jumped into action.
"For me, it was, 'These people just lost their house. They need something to come home to,'" said Burbank.
"We thought we were going to have a not-so-successful outcome, but we had a successful one," added Clifton.
With names like Sonny, Cher, Polar Bear and Snowball, the toy poodles are looking for new homes. The owners of the dogs relinquished them since they no longer have a permanent place for them.
"They're loving, well-adjusted," said Dee Roberts of Harbor Association of Volunteers for Animals. "They just want somebody to love them. That's all."
The dogs will be spayed or neutered over the weekend, and be available for adoption Monday through the group HAVA.
(KOMO - Nov 22, 2012)
