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A Wausau family is thanking firefighters who saved one of their dogs, even as they're putting their lives back together after the Tuesday blaze that might have destroyed their home.

A fire that began at about 4 p.m. Tuesday on the second floor of Todd Borchardt's home in the 200 block of South Sixth Avenue destroyed most of the contents on that floor. The first floor also sustained heavy smoke and water damage, Borchardt's fiancee, Kim Carlson, said Wednesday. Todd Borchardt's 17-year-old son, Dwight Borchardt, also lives in the home and was the only one present when the fire started. Neither he nor three of the family's four animals -- Cooper the border collie and cats Lavender and Mocha -- were harmed.

But Carlson also said she is "extremely grateful" for the efforts Wausau firefighters made to rescue Koda, a 7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever that joined the family four days before the fire. The family answered a newspaper advertisement that said Koda needed a good home, and the bond was immediate -- strong enough, in fact, that Carlson said she was prepared to rescue Koda herself from the smoke-filled home.

"We just fell in love with him so fast," she said.

Firefighters carried Koda out of a smoky second-floor room and performed mouth-to-snout artificial respiration once they were outside. Firefighters also placed an oxygen mask typically used for humans over the dog's nose.

Read more: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20111020/WDH0101/110200497/Family-rescued-dog-grateful-firefighters?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs