DECATUR - Firefighters rescued a Decatur woman from a smoke-filled apartment Sunday evening and revived her after her breathing stopped.

The woman, dazed and confused, had recovered enough to start speaking as an ambulance whisked her off to a hospital.

Firefighters also plucked a pet ferret and cat from the smoke and revived them by putting the animals in a bucket and pumping in oxygen until they were breathing normally.

The drama began at 7:30 p.m., when firefighters were called to an old three-story home converted into apartments at 1009 W. Main St. Amy Chisman, who lives in a downstairs apartment in the front of the building, said a man who lived in the rear had hammered on her window and told her to call 911.

"He said he'd left his girlfriend in there to go somewhere and, when he came back, the place was on fire," said Chisman, 44. "He told me to call 911 and then he got a hose and went around back and tried to get her out. But the smoke was too bad in there."

Battalion Chief Fred Schneller said firefighter Doug Sprague manned outside equipment while Capt. Bill Horve and Lt. Adam Ruderman entered the apartment with breathing apparatus to search for the woman.

"They went through the front room, down a hallway, and into a small bedroom toward the back and, as they were doing a sweep on a search, they felt a leg; at that point, they picked her up and brought her out," said Schneller.

"The smoke in there was very thick - some kind of sofa or loveseat had been on fire - and the woman was not breathing on her own when they first got her out onto the back porch. So they did artificial respiration before she was loaded in the ambulance and, by the time they were getting ready to leave for the emergency room, she was breathing and she was even conscious, although she was confused."

Schneller praised the work of his firefighters and the ambulance crews. "This one was close, very close," he said. "And it's one that makes you feel good."

For other residents of the apartment building, it was a surprise twist to the evening. Neighbors said four of five apartments were occupied, and for one resident, Michael Avery, who lives in an attic apartment, the first he knew anything was wrong was when he looked out a window and met a firefighter on a ladder.

Avery, 49, said he'd already had more than enough drama for one weekend. On Friday night, he had been mugged in a nearby alley and took a beating with a baseball bat that left him with several broken ribs. The thug got away with $4 in cash.

"This is kind of a violent place," said Avery, 49.

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