Props to Missoulian photographer Tom Bauer, who snapped the tearjerker photo of the week:
Missoula firefighters who raced to a burning home in the lower Rattlesnake Valley on Thursday morning were relieved to find no people at home when the fire broke out.
There were, however, pets, including a striped gray kitten with big blue eyes lying limp inside the front door.
“He wasn’t breathing too well,” said Firefighter Brett Cunniff, who scooped up the tiny body and gently carried it outside into the fresh, cool air. “So I put some oxygen on him.”
Minutes later, the kitten was in the back of an ambulance, cradled in the arms of emergency medical technician Paige Ostanhowski, who held an oxygen mask to a button nose turning a healthy shade of pink.
“He’s awake – and scratching,” said Cunniff.
Once in a blue moon, we get a good news story. This one made our day.
Gwen Florio