SCRANTON -- The people who live in the home on the 900 block on South 9th Avenue were not there when flames broke out on the first floor. Neighbors knew who was home though, two dogs that everyone on the block knew by name.
So, Scranton firefighters knew just who they were looking for when they went into the smoke-filled house.
Within minutes they removed the two dogs. They had already breathed in lots of smoke. Then, firefighters, EMT's, and paramedics snapped into action going through the life-saving motions they would do for anybody.
"It was impressive, it was pretty impressive to see them take time out to save an animal. I didn't know they would do that, it's amazing," said neighbor Cory Shea.
One of the dogs was still breathing slowly, the other was not. Firefighters did CPR for several minutes until EMT's finally intubated the dog then took both on a stretcher for more treatment.
"We're animal lovers, my wife loves animals. I said, at least they got the dog out. Everyone got out. I just hope he's ok," added neighbor Robert Rutkowski.
Unfortunately, one of the dogs didn't make it, which was devastating news to his owner and for the firefighters who tried so hard to save him.
Something, Fire Chief Pat DeSarno said, emergency personnel are trained to do.
"It's just a respiratory system basically, you just breathe and do compressions on the dog's chest, almost like doing it on a human," said Chief DeSarno.
EMT's did use special oxygen masks designed for dogs that may have saved the other dog's life. Officials said he is in excellent condition and will make a full recovery.