Bibb firefighters bring puppy back to life after house fire

Macon-Bibb County firefighters brought Gizmo back to life this morning. The nearly 4-month-old Yorkshire poodle mix had inhaled dangerous amounts of smoke in a fire at his Carroll Avenue home in west Macon.

The blaze began about 11:30 a.m. Officials said the fire appeared to start in the kitchen after a resident fell asleep while cooking on the stove.

The man woke up during the fire and attempted to save the dog before leaving the smoky residence, said Tawana Cainion, Gizmo's owner, who was at work during the incident.

"He tried to save him, but he couldn't," she said. "It was just too smoky." Firefighter Greg Walker found Gizmo inside the home near the foyer as he was checking on places where the fire might have spread.

After spending nearly 20 minutes inside the smoky home, the puppy was not breathing.

"His eyes were open, but that was it," said firefighter Travis Veronee, Walker's partner.

In the middle of the street in front of the home, Veronee said he placed a small "non-breather" oxygen mask over Gizmo's snout and began to apply small chest "touches" on the little dog.

"The mask is basically what we would use on a human to give high-flow oxygen," Veronee said. "Soon, after about five minutes, we were able to tell it was breathing on its own again. It started kicking a little bit, and then it didn't want to be around us anymore."

Veronee said the animal appeared to have burns inside its mouth and likely needed to be treated by a veterinarian.

Later in the day, Cainion said Gizmo was barking and whining and "doing what he normally does."

She said she was "relieved" her puppy was safe. For more on this story return to and read Saturday's Telegraph.