ONE cat died and a second was found alive but in a critical condition when firefighters were called to a car fire in the garage of a house in West Somerset.

A fire and rescue crew from Nether Stowey Fire Station was mobilised to attend what was reported as a ‘small vehicle fire’ in Holford.

The team was made up of crew manager Kevin Barber and firefighters Garry Evans, Matt Sharp, Ian Chedgey, and Keith Brewster.

When they arrived they found the owner had lifted up the bonnet of the vehicle and was hosing down its engine.

A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue (DSFR) spokesperson said: “What appeared to initially be heavy smoke logging of the garage and surrounding area turned out to be diesel fumes, and it became evident the vehicle had overrun itself.”

The crew went to work ventilating the garage using a positive pressure ventilator to push out the fumes from the building and checking the vehicle engine with a thermal imaging camera for any hotspots.

As the fumes were cleared, the two pet cats were found in a collapsed state inside the garage.

One had already died from inhaling the fumes, while the other cat was in what the firefighters considered to be ‘a critical condition’.

The crew immediately removed the second cat and gave it oxygen via a small mask using their pet resuscitation kit.

The DSFR spokesperson said the cat was seen to make ‘a visible improvement’ after 20 minutes and the animal was handed back to the home owner to monitor and take to a veterinary surgeon for further treatment.

The spokesperson said: “We carry pet rescue masks so we can treat all different types of animals for smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals using our pet rescue masks with an oxygen cylinder.”