Riverside County firefighters and deputy save 4 cats from apartment fire
Riverside County firefighters and a deputy saved the lives of four cats during an apartment fire in Jurupa Valley.
The Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said crews found the cats inside a fire-damaged apartment, three of whom were unconscious and not breathing.
"When I looked under the bed, I found the first one," Engineer Ray Guillen said. "As soon as I went to grab it, it fell over. So, I knew something was wrong."
Firefighters rushed the animals outside and tried to resuscitate them as more crews and a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy helped. In a video released by the fire department, first responders tried performing CPR on the cats, with some attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help the animals regain consciousness.
"We started CPR, started giving them chest compressions," Deputy Adam Maldonado said. "I know from holding my cats that their hearts beat pretty fast. So, I knew it needed to be pretty deep and pretty fast."
Other firefighters rushed in with oxygen tanks for the three unconscious cats. With fresh oxygen, the cats opened their eyes, one by one, and regained consciousness.
"We just treated it like we would treat a pediatric patient that was unresponsive and not breathing," Firefighter Salvador de La Cruz said. "It's small, press hard and press fast and breathe into them.
After getting some water from the firefighters, the cats perked up and started walking around.
Maldonado, who has four cats himself, and de La Cruz, who was once a proud cat dad, knew that all pets are family.
"They treat them like their kids, we just couldn't leave them there," de La Cruz said.
The fire department said crews extinguished the flames within an hour. One person sustained minor injuries but declined hospitalization. The fire destroyed nine apartments in the 3000 block of Emma Street and displaced 14 people.
Firefighters said the American Red Cross will help the displaced residents. The crews requested help from Animal Control to help the cats and take them to facilities for further treatment.
