PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A fire sent crews to a three-story apartment building in East Liberty Tuesday morning.

As fire crews were arriving at the 500-block of North Negley Avenue, several tenants were running back into the smoky apartment building to rescue their pets.

Emergency responders rescued eight cats belonging to several tenants after they were trapped in an extremely smoky fire Tuesday morning.

John Dellert ran back inside to look for his cat, but he was turned away by the smoke. He eventually found little Noelle getting treatment from paramedics.

“Some other woman was looking at her cat on the stretcher and we went over and found our cat there too getting oxygen,” said Dellert. “It was a relief because our daughter loves this cat. We all love this cat, it’s part of the family.”

In cell phone video, you can see smoke billowing out of the apartment building. Fire officials believe the fire started in the basement.

The fire was mostly contained, but the smoke created a blinding fog. But when fire crews were pulling up, they found tenants running back into the building.

“We had a problem initially with occupants trying to go back inside to get their cats and belongings,” said Assistant Chief Thomas Cook, of the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau. “It took a few minutes to get that under control.”

Jeremy Flowers was one of those tenants. He ran back inside with his roommate to look for their two cats. They were the only two unaccounted for earlier this morning.

“They rescued a bunch of them and were giving them oxygen, but ours didn’t make it out yet,” said Flowers.

Half the building is still habitable as it was untouched by the fire. However, the other tenants will have to look for a new place to live.

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