Heroes of the Week: California Firefighters use oxygen masks, CPR to save cats from fire

Riverside County, California Firefighters rescued cats from a burning building, and used CPR to resucate them. They are this week's heroes.

Riverside County firefighters and deputy save 4 cats from apartment fire 

By Matthew Rodriguez, : March 23, 2026 / 7:17 PM PDT / CBS LA

Riverside County firefighters and a deputy saved the lives of four cats during an apartment fire in Jurupa Valley.

The Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said crews found the cats inside a fire-damaged apartment, three of whom were unconscious and not breathing.

"When I looked under the bed, I found the first one," Engineer Ray Guillen said. "As soon as I went to grab it, it fell over. So, I knew something was wrong."

Firefighters rushed the animals outside and tried to resuscitate them as more crews and a Riverside County Sheriff's deputy helped. In a video released by the fire department, first responders tried performing CPR on the cats, with some attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to help the animals regain consciousness.

"We started CPR, started giving them chest compressions," Deputy Adam Maldonado said. "I know from holding my cats that their hearts beat pretty fast. So, I knew it needed to be pretty deep and pretty fast."

Riverside County firefighters rescued four cats from an apartment fire in Jurupa Valley.

Other firefighters rushed in with oxygen tanks for the three unconscious cats. With fresh oxygen, the cats opened their eyes, one by one, and regained consciousness.

"We just treated it like we would treat a pediatric patient that was unresponsive and not breathing," Firefighter Salvador de La Cruz said. "It's small, press hard and press fast and breathe into them.

After getting some water from the firefighters, the cats perked up and started walking around.