FIRE HITS DAY CARE CENTER

Amherst – Smoke alarms sounding alerted authorities of a fire in the Country Day Care Center in Amherst last Friday night.

Police were first to arrive and initially they were not able to spot any fire or smoke, but then within minutes the fire showed itself through windows in the lower section on the northwest corner of the building.

When Firefighters arrived they were directed to the back of the building where they made entry to battle the blaze.

Assistant Chief Jim Wilhelm of the Amherst Fire Department said that although the fire was knocked down fairly quickly thick black smoke filled the building.

Property owners advised Wilhelm that there was one animal still inside of the building – a guinea pig.

Firefighters were able to locate the guinea pig and get him outside of the building and turned him over to Wilhelm. The animal had taken in a lot of smoke and was not moving and barely breathing.

Wilhelm said one of his Firefighters then used an “Oxygen Recovery Mask” on the guinea pig. “The masks were donated to our Department last year and although it is meant for dogs and cats it is coming in very handy tonight getting air into the guinea pig.”

Firefighters said that before the guinea pig left the property to go to an all night Vet Emergency Room he was breathing on his own and had a good heart rate.

Wilhelm said that the property owner was able to review security tapes and discovered that the fire started along a west wall where an air purifier was plugged in. “We had already looked at that area as being where the origin of the fire and we believed that it was electrical – having the video evidence is just what we need to pretty much close this case.”

To read more about the “Oxygen Recovery Mask – Pet Kit” – CLICK HERE


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