Though a fire did extensive damage to a duplex on Centre Street in Shawville early Saturday morning, there was a silver lining as there were no injuries and firefighters were able to rescue a family feline from one of the units.

Shawville Clarendon Fire Chief Lee Laframboise said that his department got a call regarding a fire at 230 Centre St. at around 5:25 a.m. and responded with 18 firefighters. Since the building is just up the street from the fire hall, he said that crews were on scene in under 10 minutes.

Battling the flames and smoke in -23 degree weather, they got the situation under control in around three hours. Laframboise said that a police officer had to kick in the door of the attached unit to alert the occupant of the fire. He said that though the blaze was primarily in the other unit, it had spread to the ceiling and caused considerable damage to both sides. One person was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation but no other injuries were reported.

Fire Captain Vaughan Bastien highlighted the work of members of the department, Brad Peck, Chris Hobbs and Peter Draper, who searched the building for a cat at the request of a resident once the flames had been extinguished. They managed to find it under a bed and reunited it with its grateful owner.

Bastien added that he was proud of his colleagues for their work, and was happy they were able to provide some relief to someone in a terrible situation.

Sûreté Du Québec spokesperson Sgt. Marc Tessier said that they were initially called to the residence as well, but added that there was no criminal element to the case.