Glynn County firefighters Lee Brancel, left, and David Turner care for two poodles and a cat overcome by smoke and pulled from a burning house in the College Park neighborhood this week.  (Photo by Joe Combs / Glynn County Fire Department)

Even though the only thanks they get is the wag of a tail or a lick on the cheek, David Turner and Lee Brancel say putting their lives on the line to save a pet is worth the risk.

Two weeks after saving a Labrador retriever and a kitten from a mobile home fire in Sterling, the two Glynn County paramedics did it again Monday. The men revived a cat and two dogs they discovered unconscious inside a burning house in College Park in Brunswick.

“It really makes me feel good to save animals because I have a poodle at home and she’s just like family,” Turner said.

“We, as paramedics, always put life first. Even though a pet may be an animal, it’s still a life and we need to save them, too.”

After carrying the pets outside the College Park residence, Turner and Brancel revived the animals by administering CPR and giving them oxygen.

Brancel said he understands the bond that many pet owners have with their dogs and cats.

“Some people don’t have the ability to have children or their children are grown and had moved away, so their pets are their babies,” he said, noting the past two rescues are the only times he has had to save animals suffering from smoke inhalation.

“We have had several fires where the victims tell us that their baby is still inside the home, and it ends up not being a child, but a cat, dog or bird instead.”

In light of the recent animal rescues, Brancel said the department is considering buying equipment tailored for reviving sick pets.

Capt. Jerome Johnson of the Glynn County Fire Department said the animals in both rescues were lucky.

“Our main priority is to save the lives of people and then property,” Johnson said. “If an animal is in there and if we find them, we try to get them out, but most of the time they crawl beneath beds, couches, or other pieces of furniture.”

Fortunately, Johnson said, animals seem to have an instinctive ability to find their own way out of burning buildings.

“Believe it or not, if you leave the door open, animals are going to beat you out when there is afire because they’re more scared of fires than humans,” he said.

Firefighters said the fire at the one-story home at 2826 College Park Drive began at about 3:34p.m. It started in the kitchen when a burner ignited an item on the stove.

The homeowner, Richard Martin, was outside at the time working on the air conditioner when he noticed smoke.

Firefighters say the fire, contained to the kitchen area, caused $5,000 in damage.

The trailer fire in Sterling was a double blaze. Firefighters first arrived to find a fire burning on a back deck and extinguished it.  Later, they were called back to find the trailer fully engulfed.  Officials suspect that the second fire, which destroyed the trailer, was arson.