When a colleague carried unconscious dog Ernie out of a burning bunglalow Neil Ryder had no medical equipment to revive him.

But that didn’t stop him from trying to save the animal’s life after it suffered smoke inhalation following the blaze at a bungalow in Ufton Lane, Sittingbourne.

As it lay on the ground, its chest slowly rising up and down, the watch manager leaned over Ernie and helped revive him by cupping his hands around his nose and blowing air into it.

When an appliance from Faversham arrived with life-saving equipment on board Ernie was given oxygen therapy, which eventually brought the Staffordshire bull terrier around.

“When it came round there was a sense of relief because it’s always nice to save a life, no matter who or what it is" - Neil Ryder

His canine companions Bert, a six-year-old dachshund cross-Jack Russell, and Elmo, a four-year-old chihuahua cross-Yorkshire terrier, as well as a cat called Thomas, were all rescued from the property when a fire broke out just before 10.45am on Tuesday.

The dogs were all taken to Borden Lane Veterinary Surgery. The cat, however, is yet to be found after it ran off.

Mr Ryder, who is based at the town fire station, said: “The dogs were in cages near the airing cupboard where the fire started and spread to the roof area.

“The first one was brought out by a crew member wearing breathing apparatus. Then the second, which was the dog I helped, came out. Then they found a third in another cage.

“The second dog wasn’t breathing very much and there was nobody else around so I decided to give it 10 breaths.

“I went off to perform another duty before going back to it and breathing into its nose again. Doing that you could see a change, the pupils started to react and its breathing was better but it was still sluggish.

“When it came round there was a sense of relief because it’s always nice to save a life, no matter who or what it is.

“The breathing apparatus crewman who rescued it is a big animal lover so he was also over the moon.

“The police managed to contact the owners through details on the dogs’ collar and also some paperwork inside the property.”

Appliances from Sittingbourne, Faversham and Medway dealt with the blaze.

Owners Simon and Lyndsey Fletcher say they are grateful their 'babies' were saved from the fire.

Mrs Fletcher, who works as a division sales manager for Avon Cosmetics, had just finished a meeting in Southampton when she got a phone call about the blaze.

"We're so grateful for what Neil did for Ernie. We'd also like to thank everyone who helped and for saving all of the dogs" - Lyndsey Fletcher

She then rang her husband who was already on his way home from his job at Redline Auto Parts in Sheerness.

The 34-year-old said: "I got a call from a neighbour that two of the dogs were at the vets and they'd been checked over and they were OK but Elmo had ran off.

"The dog warden, police and neighbours were out looking for him. He was eventually found cowering in a bush in Riddles Road. I was on the phone to the vets when he was bought in.

"The cat hasn't come back yet.

"We're so grateful for what Neil did for Ernie. We'd also like to thank everyone who helped and for saving all of the dogs.

"The house is completely gutted and there's very little we can salvage but at least our family is OK, the animals are like our babies."