Fire crews rescue cat caught in blaze

SAVED: Firefighters prepare to climb to the roof of a home at Te Kanuka Station near Taweru after a blaze broke out in the ceiling space of the home, trapping a family cat inside. The cat was rescued and resuscitated. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Firefighters who doused a blaze in the ceiling of a rural home near Masterton yesterday morning also resuscitated a black cat that was trapped inside.

The woman cat owner safely escaped the Tauweru home after the fire engulfed the lounge about 11am.

Fortune was with her pet too after firefighters rescued and revived the animal, said station officer Richard King.

She was cradling the animal after its resuscitation and declined to comment about its successful rescue.

"The cat was inside at the time and was pulled out by firefighters and given oxygen. So far it's doing okay."

Mr King said the fire had started in the roof of the Te Kanuka Station home.

It was where most of the flames had been concentrated and had spread to a lounge and was well-involved when the first fire crew arrived at the scene, he added.

The blaze caused extensive damage in the roof and moderate damage in the lounge, Mr King said. Two fire engines from Masterton, a water tanker from Carterton, a Tinui Voluntary Rural Fire Force crew, and an ambulance crew attended the scene of the fire, Mr King said. A male resident at the property blamed the fire on an electrical fault.