Firefighters are commending the efforts of a neighbour who braved a burning home to rescue her neighbour’s pets.
Just after noon on Wednesday, North Vancouver City Fire Department was called to a structure fire on the 300 block of East Fifth Street.
As trucks arrived on scene, firefighters discovered a fire at the back of the home.
“Our crews were able to get lines out really quickly and were able to knock the fire down within minutes,” said Assistant Fire Chief Tyler Lentsch.
But firefighters weren’t the first to attend the blaze.
A neighbour noticed the fire early on, Lentsch said, “and was able to get the [owner’s] pets out prior to us arriving on scene.”
“I think it was two cats and a dog, but I’m not 100-per-cent positive,” he said.
Firefighters talked to the woman to make sure she was OK. She was having some pain in her throat so paramedics checked her over, but she wasn’t sent to hospital, Lentsch said.
While the woman acted bravely in recovering the pets, you should generally leave rescue operations to the professionals, he said.
“We definitely commend her efforts, but don’t want anyone necessarily doing that,” Lentsch said.
Investigators will be on scene tomorrow to finalize their efforts to determine a cause, he said.
Lentsch is reminding the public to check that your smoke detectors are working, and to have an extinguisher in your home.