A pet Labrador was rescued from a home in Walton Street, Oxford this weekend after its owners left the fireplace unattended.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the two-storey house at 9.42pm on Saturday.

It was found that the owners had gone out and left an open fire on in the living room, which had spread to items nearby.

Two crews from Rewley Road fire station and one from Slade Park attended. The fire was contained and crews were told by police officers already at the scene that there was likely to be a dog inside the home, so a search was carried out. 

Dylan the chocolate Labrador was found inside the house. According to Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue, he had taken in a lot of smoke but was given oxygen by fire crews before being handed over to the RSPCA for treatment.

Crew manager Adam Summers, from Rewley Road fire station, said: “Hopefully Dylan will make a full recovery but another couple of minutes and there would have been nothing we could have done.

"There were no smoke detectors fitted at the property which means that the fire is only obvious when there is a lot of smoke and the fire has already grown.

"Everyone should have a working smoke alarm on every level of their home. It protects everyone that lives there and also protects the property."
 

A resident who lives nearby said they heard the sirens at about 10pm and added: “We saw the woman going frantically up and down the street because her dog was in the house.

"The smoke filled the whole street. We saw the fire crews bring the dog out to the owner and it looked ok, they took it away in a car.”