After an award winning rescue of a dog and a sheep (Sparkle and Peter Pan, respectively) on a cliff in 2011 that involved some tricky rope work (http://www.firerescue1.com/rescue/articles/966339-Firefighters-rescue-dog-sheep-from-Calif-cliff/ and http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Richmond-Dog-councilman-s-sheep-saved-from-cliff-2477140.php), the Richmond Fire Department further polished their animal friendly credentials by successfully completed the perhaps more meaty and equally challenging rescue of a hog named “Piggie” stuck in a burning house, thus preventing an impromtu Memphis-style barbecue.

Richmond: 200-pound pet pig saved from house fire

By Sean Maher
Posted:   07/31/2012 10:30:06 AM PDT
Updated:   07/31/2012 03:59:34 PM PDT

RICHMOND -- Firefighters rescued a 200-pound pig named Piggy that was stuck in a Richmond garage during a house fire Monday night, officials said.
The one-alarm blaze was reported at about 9:30 p.m. at a home in the 800 block of South 46th Street, Richmond fire spokesman Rico Rincon said. No injuries were reported in the fire.
When the first crews arrived, they found a woman and her dog standing outside the burning home.
"No one inside, no one was trapped," Rincon said, "but she was kind of screaming about animals inside. It was tough to figure out what she was talking about, and it wasn't until we got a look around that we determined it was a very large pig."
The woman was more concerned about Piggy getting to safety than about anything else in the home, said Battalion Chief Merlin Turner, who participated in the pig rescue.
"The whole neighborhood, everybody was asking about the pig," Turner said, "so I guess it's pretty well known."
Firefighters are trained to rescue large animals, but not usually to pull them from fires, Rincon said. More often, they're trained to pull animals from holes they've fallen into, and other dangers where there isn't a fire closing in.
"That was definitely a unique situation for us," Rincon said. "Typically you don't see large animals that size in a home."
Firefighters found the blaze burning down a hallway, but it hadn't reached the garage where the pig was kept. Firefighters were able to close a door between Piggy and the flames, beating back the fire and bringing it under control by about 10 p.m., Rincon said.
The American Red Cross was called to assist the resident and her brother, who lives with her but was not home at the time of the fire, Rincon said. The woman was also treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, Turner said.
The fire caused about $70,000 in damage, mostly to the back of the house, and left the home uninhabitable, a fire chief said.
And their unusual victim took its rescue in stride.
"(The pig) was actually pretty calm throughout the whole thing," Turner said. "It looked a little like it wanted to eat, and then it just kind of went to sleep in the garage."
Contact Sean Maher at 925-943-8013. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/OneSeanMaher.