Firefighters rescued five puppies from a midtown fire Wednesday that destroyed a single mother's home.
Capt. Barrett Baker with Tucson Fire says the call came in shortly after 11 a.m. at a home near Fort Lowell and Stone.
Baker says when crews arrived, they saw heavy smoke coming from the home and learned the fire was coming from the back bedroom.
They also found five newborn puppies on the front porch.
"They needed oxygen," said Baker. "Obviously [with] the amount of smoke that was billowing out of that house."
He says the animal oxygen masks Tucson Fire has didn't fit the tiny puppies so they held the masks as close as possible. Once they were revived, neighbor Billy Huffman watched over the puppies and kept them safe.
"I was worried about the puppies more than I was worried about the fire," said Huffman.
The woman who lives in the home arrived back at the house after she says she received a call from work that her home was on fire. She began frantically trying to reunite the puppies with their mother, Cookie who was hiding under a trailer.
Eventually with help from neighbors and a Tucson Police officer, Cookie found her babies and began feeding them.
"We can replace the furniture, we but can't replace Cookie," said Irene, who lives at the home.
