Rock Community firefighters rescued a pair of kittens from a fire at a vacant mobile home in the 2000 block of Plaza Drive in Arnold, which was extensively damaged, authorities reported.
The Rock Community Fire Protection District got a call at 5:25 a.m. May 3 about the fire, and the first firetruck arrived at 5:30 a.m., spokeswoman Alyson Barton said.
Firefighter Lane Carl said she was part of the first crew that arrived on the scene. She said before the crew began putting out the fire, which started under the mobile home, she saw a kitten near a back door.
“I got off the truck and pulled my line to the first door on the mobile home,” she said. “The captain did a 360 and said let’s move it to the second door in the back. I go back there, and this poor little kitty is sitting under the mobile home. Smoke was coming out from behind the kitten.”
Carl said she reached down and scooped up the kitten, which didn’t resist being picked up, and then she handed off the kitten to an Arnold Police officer, who also responded to the fire.
Carl said the officer put the kitten in the back of his cruiser, and she returned to the mobile home to put out the fire. She said she told other firefighters to be on the lookout for other cats or kittens.
“Jon Roth went inside, and probably within 30 seconds, he came out with the second kitten,” Carl said. “As soon as he came through the door, I scooped that one up and brought it back to the cruiser.”
Carl said Rock Township Ambulance District personnel brought over a blanket to wrap the kittens in because they were shivering.
Carl said the kittens appeared to be six to 10 weeks old.
Barton said the fire was under control at 6 a.m.
Carl said some of the flames burned through the floor into the mobile home.
“Luckily, we got there quick enough that the smoke inside was not too bad,” she said. “There were a couple of spots where the fire bled through. The condition in the home was smoky, but it was not a fully involved fire. There was a lot of stuff still inside, so the kitten had a lot of air pockets with good air.”
Arnold Police took the kittens to the Arnold Animal Control and Health Department after the fire.
A representative at Animal Control said the kittens were healthy, and they were being transferred to Kitten Caboodle in Edwardsville, Ill., where they will be put up for adoption after receiving vaccinations and are either spayed or neutered.
Barton said the cause of the fire did not appear suspicious but was still under investigation as of Thursday, May 4.