Altoona firefighters rescue yellow lab from house fire

ALTOONA.-- First responders in Altoona save a dog from a burning home.

The fire broke out Thursday on East Willow Avenue, smoke and flames erupted from the home's basement. When crews entered, the door at the top of the cellar wouldn't open. Crews forced their way through and found an unresponsive yellow Labrador Retriever named Jake.

"It was bad enough to know there was something on the other side of the door but also bad enough it was the family's pet. So he grabbed it in his arms right away and came outside with it," said Ed Barstow, the assistant fire chief.

Barstow said there is no formal training for animal rescue, but like all mammals, dogs need oxygen.

Using a K9 oxygen mask, AMED took over for the fire company to try to revive the 15 year old Lab.

Shane Amendolea was the EMT who worked to revive Jake. By the time the fire company had put out the fire, Jake was alert.

Amendolea reached out to 6News, telling us, "I'm such a dog lover and to see the recovery he's made so far is special and definitely a highlight of my career."

"You do have that moment of joy that you did something good here. We stopped the fire but we might have saved the family's pet," Barstow said.

Jake's owner said they are thankful he was pulled from the fire and said Jake is doing well but is at the vet as they continue to keep an eye on him.

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