Quick-thinking fire crew averts cat-astrophy

AN 11-YEAR-OLD cat called Charlie involved in a house fire in Derker yesterday was revived by fire-fighters.

Crews from Oldham were called to Oban Avenue to put out a chip-pan fire. A 57-year-old woman was already out of the house when they arrived, but crews wearing breathing gear found Charlie unconscious in the front first-floor bedroom.

Using the oxygen tank for humans, they removed the face mask and gently pointed the tube at the cat’s mouth, and fire-fighter Derek Ridley massaged the soot-filled cat’s chest for 40 minutes until it regained consciousness.

Watch Commander Jim Mulligan said: “There was no smoke alarm in the property – so it could have been a lot worse.”