It took a community to save animals from a burning shelter

The 100 dogs and cats at People’s Animal Welfare Society were no strangers to trauma.

Most were at the PAWS shelter because of human failure. They’d been relinquished, returned or simply abandoned by their owners. They’d seen the dark side of humanity. The shelter was their second chance.

But on the night of Jan. 17, they’d need a third.

Terri Buckley was among a handful of people inside the Tinley Park facility when the dryer ignited, billowing deadly smoke and sounding the alarm.

“It was everyone’s worst nightmare,” said Buckley, the shelter’s president.

Luckily, many of the dogs were already outside getting their evening exercise, but two cat rooms abutted the laundry area.

“I’ve been a firefighter for 41 years,” Tinley Park Fire Chief Steve Klotz said, “and I had never come across a situation like this.”

How do you rescue dozens of animals from a burning building and what do you do with them once they’re evacuated, he wondered.

But firefighters are trained to adapt. And, Klotz said, that’s exactly what they did.

In nearby Orland Park, Ashley Sawa was on duty at Midwest Animal Hospital when she received a call at 6:36 p.m. informing her the shelter was on fire. PAWS is a hospital client. It provides checkups, vaccines and treatment whenever needed.

“I grabbed as many team members, leashes and carriers as I could,” the veterinarian and hospital partner said. By 6:47, five or six carloads of medical help were on the scene.

Klotz, Buckley and

Sawa are convinced that every single animal was saved that night because of one thing: teamwork.

“It was as if everyone had trained for it,” Klotz said. “For months. But we hadn’t.”

As the fire crews set up a hose line and began ventilation, community help came from all directions.

Within minutes, seven Midwest veterinarians on site and PAWS volunteers lined 191st Street.

“We had to get the humans out right away,”

Klotz said, but they were hesitant to leave without the animals. They were concerned firefighters wouldn’t know how to handle a large number of scared dogs and cats.

“We told them we wear PPC (personal protective clothing), and that the animals couldn’t scratch through it,” Klotz said. Firefighters learn early on that dogs tend to run when frightened, while cats are more likely to hide.

An impromptu system, a kind of bucket brigade, was started.

“The volunteers lined up outside the door with boxes,” Klotz said.

“They’d hand us the box, we’d take it inside, put an animal in, bring it back outside, hand it to the volunteer, who’d transport it to Midwest.”

That went on for a good 40 minutes, he said. “It was very organized. As if we’d done it before,” he said.

The coordination “resulted in the successful outcome, 100 percent,” he said.

At Midwest, a large facility that offers boarding and daycare in addition to medical treatment, employees who’d already finished their shifts came rushing back.

“I had texted our team,” Sawa said. “All of our night managers showed up. Many of our groomers too. About 60 to 70 workers came back to the hospital to help bathe and give physical exams to every animal.”

Temperatures were taken, heart rates were determined, respiratory distress was treated, she said. Every animal received an antibiotic to prevent secondary issues that could arise from smoke inhalation, she said.

“It was amazing the way everyone came together to help. There were PAWS volunteers everywhere, offering water, blankets and transportation,” Sawa said.

The animals stayed at the hospital for at least 48 hours before being placed with foster families, where they will live until the shelter is ready to reopen, Buckley said.

“Only two dogs needed oxygen but 14 cats needed care,” Sawa said.

Buckley added, “A couple of cats are still being treated for eye issues.”

In her 18 years with the hospital, Sawa said, she’d never seen anything like that night.

“We’ve had a few clients affected by house fires but never more than two or three at a time. We’ve never had anything on this scale. Thankfully we have a large facility and a large number of employees.”

The response, Sawa said, “was so emotional. I was brought to tears several times by the outpouring of concern. Everyone was asking, ‘What can I do?’ It was really special.”

Klotz said he was “amazed at the great cooperation between firefighters and volunteers who’d never met, let alone trained together.”

He’s not sure what the department would have done with 100 animals had the volunteers not been there to help.

Firefighting crosses a broad spectrum, Klotz said. Every day, every crisis is different. Sharing strategies and systems that work is imperative, he added.

“When you come across something like this, you want others to learn from it,” he said.

The help, Buckley said, continues to pour in. Country singer Miranda Lambert sent a check for $20,000 from her MuttNation Foundation. Local businesses are helping fund a new washer and dryer as well as renovation supplies.

She said the shelter has received donations ranging from $5 to $5,000 from across the Chicagoland area and 30 states.

After the fire was extinguished, members of the community continued to stop by well into the wee hours, with blankets and other supplies.

“It overwhelmed our garage,” Buckley said, so they’ve reached out to other shelters to share.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, human kindness always rises when the shelter seems to need it most.

“Every single day we deal with people giving up animals for all kinds of reasons. It’s sad and you sort of get down on people sometimes,” she said.

But whenever there’s a crisis, she said, “it’s the community that gives us hope. You see all these wonderful people come out to help.”

It’s reaffirming, Sawa added. People really do love animals, she said. “And everyone wants these animals to get another chance.”