Two more feline fire victims rescued from Burnsville rubble

By JOY POWELL, Star Tribune

Last update: January 7, 2009 - 9:44 PM

Thirteen days after a fire destroyed the Burnsville apartment building in which they lived, two more cats were rescued from what's left of the building and reunited with their owners.

Tammy Brynteson said Wednesday that her cats, Mishka and Holly, were smoky and dirty and a bit anxious, but that they're settling into their new apartment.

The cats were rescued Tuesday from a first-floor apartment down the hall from the one in which the Bryntesons had lived at Burncliff Apartments. The cats are among a dozen animals -- cats, plus two rats and two guinea pigs -- so far reunited with their owners, Burnsville animal control officer Peter Johnson said Wednesday.

A snake, three cats, a rabbit and a guinea pig have been found dead in the three-story building destroyed Dec. 22.

Johnson said he went to the building after calls from workers there, who told him they thought a cat was in apartment 101. There were two.

"They were just hiding underneath a bed," Johnson said of the cats.

As Mishka and Holly ran from their hiding place, Johnson grabbed one cat and a construction worker nabbed the other.

"They actually seemed really well off for having been loose in the frozen apartment for almost two weeks," Johnson said.

That might be because one resident left a big bag of food sitting on a kitchen table, and doors were left open by firefighters, allowing the pets a chance to find an occasional meal. Heaters had been placed in the building here and there, which along with being out of the wind apparently helped the pets survive subzero temperatures.

"I'm just so glad to have them back," Tammy Brynteson said Wednesday.

Perhaps the feeling is mutual. At the couple's new apartment, the cats were sure to keep their owners within sight.

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017

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