Dragon given oxygen after Dudley house fire rescue
Firefighters rushed to the rescue of a 'dragon' in distress - and gave it oxygen to revive him when his den burst into flames.
Thorn, the bearded dragon, was distinctly off-colour when Brierley Hill firefighters Lucy Evans and Adrian Smith raced in to save it from its vivarium reptile home in the basement of its owner's house in Lye.
A heating bulb had overheated and dropped into the vivarium, setting ablaze a piece of wood inside.
At first firefighters thought the lizard-like reptile was dead - but it jumped when Adrian touched its tail.
And, after carrying it outside to safety, colleagues Roy Whitehead, a watch commander, and firefighter Jamie Reason gave it oxygen from a cylinder, reviving it so that it could go to the vet for a check-up.
Lucy said: "Thorn was desperate for air and at first we thought it was dead.
"But then Adrian touched its tail and it jumped.
"We got Thorn out of there - we didn't discuss giving the kiss of life but our colleagues gave the animal oxygen."
Watch commander Andrew Papworth said that, when two crews from Brierley Hill fire station arrived at the house, in Pedmore Road, at about 10.30am, the building was full of smoke.
The crews searched the building and found the smoke was coming from the vivarium in the basement.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus put out the blaze and rescued Thorn.
"After we took it to the local vet's we advised the owner to get Thorn checked out by a specialist," said Mr Papworth.
"It was a bit tricky but we are pleased we were able to rescue this beautiful animal. which we think is about two years old and measured 18 to 20in."
