Holy crap. The guy I'm seeing is a firefighter and this caused me so much anxiety knowing that he would run right into that to save whoever/whatever needed to be saved. On one of our first dates, after he'd met my gigantic dog, I asked him what he'd do if my dog needed saving. My dog is big enough (93 lbs) that you can't just pick him up and run. He (the firefighter) very sweetly said they'd find a way to drag him out if necessary, but pets usually find their way out on instinct. He reassured me they have the pet oxygen masks on their trucks and a few weeks later sent me a picture of one of the companies in his area using one of those on a dog that got rescued from a local fire. He said he thought of me when his buddy sent me that picture because he knew I was worried about what would happen to my dog and cat.

I'm so happy everyone got out of your house safely! Pets included! I know that most firefighters reject the "hero" label/identity for so many reasons, but it's hard to resist that instinct to recognize that part of them. They are protectors.